The Loud Awakening
by Neet92
Summary: Kicking their only brother out of the house was a huge mistake. But in making that mistake, Lincoln and his sisters, whether they like it or not, become something more. Takes place during No Such Luck. Superpowers AU. Monstergirl AU. Rated M for violence, language, nudity(No Loudcest, though) and experimentation on teens and kids.
1. Prologue

**The Loud Awakening**

 **Prologue**

 **Me: I don't know. This seems like a tad too much. Maybe I should stick to short stories for now…  
Inner Me: That's weakness talking! Do it, ya wuss!**

 **So, yeah. My second fanfic, with this one being the first with multiple chapters. Also going for a Powers/Non-human Loud siblings AU story with this, so wish me luck. Like my first fic, constructive criticism and advice are very much appreciated.**

 **I do not own Loud House. Chris Savino, however, does.**

* * *

 _Downtown Royal Woods. 10:30 P.M._

You would think a small city like Royal Woods wouldn't have a downtown, but it does. Sure, it's not as big as, say, Detroit, but it still gets the job done like the big cities do. Restaurants, businesses, media hubs, radio stations, stadiums, you name it. This city has it. And it shows even more once the sun goes down. Night clubs and bars become the main attraction when night falls, with tall buildings and a few skyscrapers dotting the city's skyline.

It is on one of these skyscrapers, with it's long spire spearing toward the night sky as the moon shined dull in the starry night sky, where we beheld a curious sight. This sight being a lone male figure, sitting on one of the ledges at the base of the spire and gazing down at the city that sprawled before him. Several intriguing factors were about this mysterious being stood out. For one, his small size. He looked young. Very young. Most likely, this _boy_ was of pre-teen age. Secondly, his choice of wardrobe. The boy was dressed up like, for all intents and purposes, a classic knight. From head to toe, he was clad in burnt orange armor, with a small blue cape draped down his back. Now, seeing a young knight sitting atop of a skyscraper at night would be a sight many people would acquaint to being a bit…..abnormal.

Those many would be correct, in most circumstances. And it was about get even more abnormal, for he was not alone on this night.

Several feet behind the boy stood one of the building's generators.

The generator itself was of no significance.

It's shadow, however, was.

 _For, out of that very shadow, another figure emerged._

This one seemed even smaller than the boy and more feminine, as well. The figure was completely clothed in a black cloak, with a hood that fully obscured the wearer's face as it silently walked up and stood behind the boy.

Sensing a presence, the knight turned around. Upon the seeing the cloaked being, the boy spoke.

"Ah, Lucy. How be your patrol this night? Tis everything alright?", he asked, in a somewhat Ye Olde way of speaking for some reason.

Upon being asked that question, the figure raised a pale hand from out of it's cloak and lowered it's hood, revealing the pale white face of a young girl, the bangs of her black hair completely shielding her eyes from view.

"All is well and quiet in East Royal Woods, dear brother. A petty theft here and there, but nothing a flash of my eyes and a bit growling couldn't scare off.", Lucy replied in a monotone as she joined her brother on the ledge. As she sat down, light began to shine from knight's helmet. It brightened for one second before slowly vanishing, revealing the head and face of a boy with white hair, brown freckles, blue eyes and a caring smile.

"That's good news, sister! Let us hope the others had as much of a boon as you did.", Lincoln quipped.

"And that she did, indeed!", a voice cried out.

Both brother and sister looked to their right to see a another figure come flying in.

 **Literally.**

This newcomer, a girl in her teens, had large wings where her arms were suppose to be, adorned with yellow feathers. Her legs, mid-thigh down, were similar to that of an ostrich, only brown, slicker and more graceful. Her scaly feet ended with four toes, three in the front and one in the back, each ending with razor sharp talons. She also had a long tail feather coming out just above her butt. The winged girl wore a white sleeveless shirt and yellow short shorts that had a checkerboard pattern to them. Her light brown hair was tied in a ponytail. She also had buck teeth with braces.

"Hey, Luan.", spoke Lucy as her older sister landed beside them.

"How be your end of things?", queried Lincoln.

"Stopped an armed robbery in progress. Nothing says swift justice like a bit of _foul wind_ in their sails. Hehehe! Other than that, not a creature was stirred.", Luan answered as she sat(or roosted, rather) on Lincoln's other side.

Lincoln was going comment on a job well done when the sound of thunder was heard. The three siblings looked up to the sky and and saw lightning arcing across the sky. Strangely enough, the night's forecast didn't call for any thunderstorms.

Even stranger was the fact that this lightning in particular wasn't blue or white.

 _It was purple._

Suddenly, a streak of the oddly-colored lightning struck the spire, but it didn't stop there. It coursed and coiled down the spire's length before halting at the base. Then, in a display of defying physics, it jumped out and hovered as a ball behind the trio. As the siblings watched, the lightning began to give itself a humanoid form. Once the form was completed, it exploded in a shower of electrical sparks. There, in the aftermath of the explosion, stood another teenage girl who appeared to be a bit taller than Luan. This new arrival had short brown hair in a pixie cut, freckles and had purple eyeshadow on her eyes. She wore a black Metallica t-shirt and a lavender plaid skirt with purple boots. However, the most distinguishing aspects of this new girl was that she had what appeared to be brown weasel ears coming out of the top of her head, as well as a long and bushy brown tail coming out from the top of her butt. There were also patches of brown fur found on her forearms and from the knees down.

Purple electricity sparked off the girl's body as she greeted the three siblings.

"S'up, mates!", she exclaimed in a raspy voice, complete with a British accent.

"Hey, Luna.", Luan responded.

"Was the light show really necessary? You know how Lori is about bringing unwanted attention to ourselves.", droned Lucy as Luna sat beside her.

"Nah, people aren't going to suspect lightning striking a skyscraper. We're good. Besides, rockstars always make an appearance."

"And the North?", questioned Lincoln.

"Our home turf is safe and sound, dude. No trouble to report.", Luna said in reply.

"Excellent! Now, all is left is for-"

 **WOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSH!**

Lincoln wasn't able to finish his statement as a green blur streaked past the four siblings, neon highlights trailing as it banked around in a wide circle before heading straight for the siblings. The green blur begins to slow down halfway. By the time it has reached the four, it has stopped and was currenting hovering in front of them.

Turns out this green blur was yet another girl. The youngest one yet, practically a toddler. She had shaggy brown hair and was wearing a green turtleneck sweater with pink pants. Of course, going along with the running theme of "abnormal", this girl had something that made her distinguishing as well. Which came in the fact that the girl looked part mecha. Her legs were futuristic-looking jet boosters and had sleek thrusters coming out of her back, all of which glowed a vibrant green. She also had a green holographic visor in front of her face before it vanished, revealing her wearing glasses.

"Greetings, fellow siblings.", the girl greeted, with a lisp and a odd cybernetic echo to her voice.

"Hey, Lisa.", the four children answered back.

"Seeing as how you three are all here, I can assume that your patrols have been successful?"

"Yep!", "Yes." and "Right-oh, mate!" were heard as Luan, Lucy and Luna responded.

"And is all well in the South, dear sister?", the sole brother asked.

"Only one discrepancy occurred during my surveillance. A runaway sedan containing a drunk driver was about crash into a nightly Bible session being held at a local church. Fear not, I was able to neutralize the vehicle and dropped the inebriated man off at the nearest police station. I left a note detailing the man's actions for the authorities to read.", reported Lisa as she hovered over and sat down next to Luan, her thrusters receding into her back and her boosters shifting back into a pair of human legs, complete with brown shoes.

"Great job, Lisa. As for Downtown, I was able thwart several muggings and sway a few drunkards myself from driving home. Tis small now, but thou knowth in thine heart that we are making a difference at keeping Royal Woods safe.", Lincoln commented.

"On that, I concur with you, brother of mine." quipped the child prodigy as she raised a hand, a holographic screen appearing in front of the siblings, showing several graphs and data. "Given that we have been actively patrolling the four quadrants of our hometown for the past 2 and a half months, crimes rates have gone down by 20%. If we keep this rate up, we should be able to get that number up to 30% by the end of the year, 35 if we put our backs into it. Which sounds like something of a challenge that I'm sure Lynn will fondly appreciate."

"Oh, I'm sure that prospect will get her all sorts of _fired_ up. Hehehe! Get it?", joked Luan. Her siblings groaned in response as Lisa's screen blinked out of existence.

"Still, even if it is that small, it does feel good knowing we're making that much of a difference." quipped Luna as she laid her hands behind her and leaned back, relaxed as she viewed the stars and heavens above.

"I agree. Though there is still much to be done in this dark and harsh world, it….warms my heart knowing we're doing good.", Lucy added, a small smile appearing on her visage as she laid her head on her brother's shoulder.

"Small steps often grow into giant leaps, little sister. We'll get there. Eventually.", Luan said with a smile as she extended her wing to wrapped around both Lucy and Lincoln before laying her head against Lincoln's.

"Took the words right out of my mouth, dear sister of mine.", Lisa spoke with a small grin as she took in the sight of Royal Woods below her.

"Aye. T'was long road we have traveled, thus far. And we still have much to travel yet. But whatever may come our way, we'll be there to face it thusly. Together.", concluded Lincoln, steel resolve and conviction evident in his voice. His sisters nodded in agreement as they sat in comfortable silence.

Yes. These five children, along with their other sisters, have been through many hardships and pain within the past several months.

Matter of fact, within the past year and a half.

And who would've thought that all of this began….

….. _on a day of bad luck._

 _To Be Continued…_

* * *

 **Author Notes: Oh, right. Did I forget to mention that this story takes place during No Such Luck? Because it does. Just thought you should know.**

 **Anyway, let me know how you feel about this story with a review. It'll help the story move along more smoothly.**

 **Catch ya later!**


	2. Birds of a Feather

**The Loud Awakening**

 **Chapter 1: Birds of a Feather…**

 **Wow….like, really wow. Just one prologue and I got over 400 views and 12 followers in one day! Guess I'm doing something right, but enough about that. Let's continue on with the story.**

 **Again, I do not own Loud House.**

* * *

 _One year and a half ago…_

 _Tetherby Industries, Main Office, 11:00 P.M._

Lord Tetherby was never really a superstitious man.

I mean, why would he be? He doesn't believe in myths, legends and tall tales. Hell, he doesn't even believe in luck. As smug and egocentric as he may be, he was smart and worked hard to get to where he was today. If he didn't, his company wouldn't be one of leading scientific and engineering companies in America. If you ever asked Tetherby if he believed in such nonsense, he would laugh at you, call you an idiot and go out of his way to ensure that you don't get a job. Seriously, he **would** do that.

So no, superstitious he was not…..

….at least, until recently.

Six months ago, fellow wealthy constituent, an archaeologist named Texas Pones, called the portly man and informed him of a discovery that peaked his interest. Pones was exploring the ancient ruins of a castle in the rural countryside of Poland when he discovered a corridor hidden behind a wall in the castle's throne room. Entering, the man and his excavation team climbed down a winding staircase that went deep underground. At the end of the descent, the group went down another corridor, the end of which lead to a much bigger discovery: A large domed chamber. The entire room was swathed with dust and cobwebs, with the sole exception being what lied in the middle of the chamber. A regal looking stone coffin with gold trim running along the sides of it. Pones had his men remove the coffin's lid to see what the inside contained.

What they found wasn't a body like they were expecting. Instead, they found…

 _Orbs. Ten baseball-sized orbs of various colors that glowed faintly and without a speck of age on them, almost as if they were immune to the ravages of time._

Of course, when Tetherby first heard this, he guffawed and called Pones a damned looney for wasting his time with such a frivolous story. Pones retorted by saying he will bring the orbs to Tetherby himself and give them to him just to prove him wrong.

Five days later, Tetherby ate his words as Pones came to his office and presented the orbs in a case to him. Over the next few months, the two men combined their efforts and pooled their resources in trying to figure what these mysterious orbs were. From translating dusty tomes to using high powered microscopes, they arduously seeked to uncover the orbs' secrets.

Six months later, they got their answer.

 _Power. Ancient and mystical power the likes of which the world has never seen. Or, rather, was hidden and forgotten in time._

Needless to say, Lord Tetherby became a believer that day.

Seeing as how the orbs would be put to far better use in the portly man's hands than have them sit in a museum somewhere, Pones entrusted them to Tetherby before finally taking his leaving.

Which brings us to Tetherby currently sitting at his desk, hands clasped in front of him as he looked at the results of the extensive research his scientists had come up with. As it turned out, these magical orbs each had a unique aspect to them. One orb, glowing radiant goldish-white, housed energies that seemed divine, almost holy in nature. Thus, the orb was dubbed as the Light Orb. The rest of the orbs followed the same trend: The light blue orb was the Arcane Orb; the greenish-blue orb was the Ocean Orb; purple was the Thunder Orb; yellow was the Tempest Orb; red was the Ember Orb; black was the Nerg Orb; pinkish-white was the Frost Orb; bronze was the Terra Orb; and, finally, the green was the Techno Orb.

Reading on, the fat man also found out that, according to various sound tests performed, these orbs each have a unique frequency that, when in close contact with a certain object, could potentially cause the orbs to harmonize and react.

And it is here where things have snagged. So far, no object, be it man-made or natural, has caused the orbs to react. So it stands to reason, if an object won't work…

"Then maybe a person could.", Tetherby said to himself as shifted some papers around. "Question is, where can I find that person?"

Luckily for him, as he pulled and opened another file, he knew of one such potential guinea pig.

Rather, he knew a _family_ of potential guinea pigs.

Ever since the Limo incident, the Loud Family had been a despising proverbial thorn in his side, with a certain snow-haired son of the family being a particularly bothersome individual. So, in retaliation, he enlisted the service of professionals with certain…. _skills_ to spy on the rowdy family and gather any dirt, secret and/or taboo they might have. Anything to make that accursed bunch of commoner filth's lives a living hell. So far, they haven't turned anything of value up.

 _But all of that was about to change_.

A solid knocking of wood drew Tetherby's attention to his office door.

"You may enter.", the man answered.

Coming through his door strode a tall and bulky man wearing a white t-shirt with a black vest over it, blues jeans with a black leather belt which had a bull's skull as the belt buckle, brown combat boots and a black ski mask that hid his face. Only his cold grey eyes were visible.

"Sir, we have an update on the Loud family situation.", the masked newcomer reported, causing one of his employer's eyebrows to be raised.

"Go on.", Tetherby spoke, giving his full undivided attention.

"About two hours ago, the family kicked their son out of the house and he has stayed out there ever since."

This caused both of Tetherby's eyebrows to shoot for the ceiling.

"They….kicked Lincoln out of the house? Whatever for?"

"We may have an idea for the motive.", the masked man continued. "From what we have gathered, one of the daugthers, Lynn Jr., lost a baseball game and has put the blame on her brother, labeling him as 'bad luck'. She also managed to convince the rest of her siblings and her parents to believe in her claim. Matter of fact, one of our spy cameras showed the family moving pieces of furniture out of the house. We believe they may have been Lincoln's."

"Oh, this is just too good.", the portly man chuckled, finding humor in the seemingly sheer irony in all of this. Opportunity was clearly knocking on his door. "Is he still outside of his house?"

The masked man was about to answer when his cell phone vibrated inside his vest. Pulling it out, he tapped on it once before raising it up to his ear.

"Talk to me.", he answered. Few seconds of chatter later, he gave a acknowledging grunt before ending the call and answering his employer.

"Sir, the boy is on the move. Heading toward Royal Woods Park."

A cruel smile made itself known on Lord Tetherby's face. Scratch knocking, this was opportunity gift-wrapping and throwing itself through his glass window.

* * *

 _Royal Woods Park, 11:10 P.M._

' _I don't get it.'_

A thought that has conjured in Lincoln Loud's mind so many times within the past ten minutes, it was practically a chant at this point. And who could blame him? You would be too if your family just kicked you out of your home for being 'bad luck'. Granted, he didn't really help his case when he lied and went along with Lynn's claim of him being unlucky, but goddamn it, can a guy get five minutes to himself!? Sure, in a family as big as his, having some 'me time' for any extended period of time was about as rare as chocolate lastly **a full 24 hours** in the Loud household. But, is it really too much to ask for the boy to have a little bit of privacy? He spends most, if not all, of his time with his sisters, supporting and assisting them with their activities. Doing favors for Lori, modeling outfits for Leni, listening to Luna's music material, _reluctantly_ listening to Luan's pun material, surviving Lynn's sparring matches, reviewing Lucy's poems(along with not having a goddamn heart attack everytime she jumpscares him), helping Lana's with her animals, making sure Lola is ready for upcoming pagents, assisting Lisa with her experiments(while, in the same vein, avoid _becoming_ one of her experiments) and changing Lily's diapers. And he does this….

Every.

Damn.

Day.

By the time Lincoln is done helping them, he is left with zero time for himself. Hell, he went to Lynn's baseball game, _while being under a threat no less_ , in the hopes that, with him being there, he would have her get off of his back and finally have some time for himself. What ended up happening was her team lost, she takes the sore loser route and blames him for the loss and then manages to convince not only his other sisters, but his parents as well, that he's 'bad luck'. And even after he confessed that he lied and admitted that he wasn't unlucky, they didn't believe him.

So, apparently, yes. In hindsight, it probably was too much to ask.

"Gee, thanks for reminding me.", Lincoln retorted with a glare at the audience, sarcasm evident in his voice as he currently sat sad and a bit depressed on one of the park benches. It probably wasn't a smart idea to be out here in the dead of night, but he was so angry and upset with how things turned out that he would've made a hell of a scene. Seeing as how that action would wake up the whole neighborhood and bring some really bad attention to his family, the white-haired boy decided a walk through the park to cool off was the better course of action.

And so here he was, sitting on a bench underneath one of the park's lampposts, alone with his rather somber thoughts. How he shouldn't have lied in the first place and how he should've stood his ground and not be a doormat when he said no to Lynn were some of the thoughts that rang clear in his mind, but the one that proved to be the most damning and depressing was that, once again, he was the black sheep in the situation. First the sweet spot debacle, then the clogged toilet quagmire, then that _dumb as a doornail_ Sister Fight protocal incident, and now this! In every one of those events, Lincoln was the odd man out and all blame would go to him. Hell, his parents would almost always take the girl's word over his! Why was that so!? Is it because he's the only boy among a family of girls!? Is it because he's too kind and forgiving!? Is it because of his nerdy hobbies!?

Or maybe it's because they really didn't give a flying fuc-

"ALRIGHT, I GET IT! WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!?", Lincoln shouted in anger, holding back tears that threatened to leak from his eyes. "Yes, I should've never let Lynn strongarm me into going to that game! Yes, I should've never played along! But where do you get off saying that my family doesn't care about me!? Of course, they do! They love me! They….t-they love me…..and they don't take me for granted…...r-right?"

"Keep talking like that, kid, and people will think you need to be put in a nut house."

Lincoln gave a frightful yelp and quickly shot his head to the left, laying his eyes on a large man with ski mask, a vest, jeans and boots sitting on other side of the bench. So deep the boy was in his thoughts that he didn't even notice the man approach until he spoke.

"Also, shouldn't boys like you be at home, sleeping safe and sound in their bed?", the man added as he stared into the darkness of the park, yet to make eye contact with the startled eleven year old.

Red flags. So many red flags skyrocketed in Lincoln's mind as he stared at the masked stranger, all the while cursing himself for being so stupid and careless. Why didn't he go to Clyde's or even Ronnie Anne's house? Anyplace where he wouldn't be such an easy kidnapping victim….. **or** murder victim.

"I…..I-I just wanted to g-get some fresh air.", Lincoln meekly replied. An incredibly lame excuse, but the Man with the Plan didn't really care. He was just too intimidated by the man's presence to form a proper response or, at the very least, a better lie. Also, call it a gut feeling, but something told Lincoln that this man was not alone. So, the snow-haired boy turned his gaze to his right, toward the park entrance that he came through. Sure enough….

…. _two men in outfits similar to masked man came through and slowly made their way toward his position._

Lincoln's heart accelerated as fear began to course through his body.

"Kid, there's no point in lying. I know why you're here…. **Lincoln**."

The boy's head snapped back to the man so fast, his neck gave off a few pops. The masked stranger was now looking at him. Cold and detached grey eyes stared into fear-stricken blue.

The eleven year old was about to shit in his pants. How the hell did this man know his name!? What did he mean he knew why the boy was here!? As he tried to wrap his around what was happening, Lincoln noticed a bit movement behind the masked man a few yards away. Tilting his head a bit to the side, the boy finally saw what that movement was as it moved under a lamppost.

 _It was another masked man! Moving toward him!_

"I'd ask for you to spare us the trouble and come quietly, but you're probably not going to do that, are you?", the masked stranger gravely spoke before making a motion.

As soon as the man made a hint of a standing up, Lincoln shot off the bench and ran like a bat out of hell for one of the exits that didn't have a kidnapper coming from it. Looking back for a moment, he saw the masked man calmly reach for something in his vest. The sight only made the boy run even harder. Taking no chances, he drew in a big breath and screamed as he loud as he could….

Well, **tried** to scream.

What came out instead was a whimper as the last thing the sole son of the Loud family felt before blacking out was a quick and sharp pain in the center of his back.

* * *

 _Tetherby Industries, Main Office, 11:30 P.M._

The ringing of his office phone drew Lord Tetherby out of his pondering. With a press of a button, he put the call on speaker.

"Give me some good news.", he responded.

"We got him, sir.", a voice replied on the other line.

A pleased grin appeared on Tetherby's visage.

' _One down. Nine to go.'_

 _To be continued…_

* * *

 **Author's Notes: And down goes Lincoln! Tetherby's got the boy in his clutches and the Loud family are in for a rude surprise come morning. How will they react? Find out in the next chapter!**

 **Be sure to leave a review! Seriously, if there's anything wrong with the story, let me know.**

 **Catch ya later!**


	3. Fall Together(Part 1)

**The Loud Awakening**

 **Chapter 2: ….Fall Together Part. 1**

 **Holy shit, you guys! I HAVE to be doing something right if my story's gotten a little over 1k views in a week! Thank you so much for giving it a chance! I hope I can continue making this fanfic worthy of your time!**

 **I've said it once, I've said twice, so I'll say thrice. I do not own The Loud House.**

* * *

 _Two weeks_.

Two weeks had passed since Lincoln's disappearance. When morning came after that night, the family thought it was him being bitter about the situation and hiding himself away from them, thinking he'll get over it and come back home. However, as time wore on during the day, they became more and more worried with his prolonged absence. Soon enough, night had fallen once again and the prodigal son had not returned. By that point, the family was beside themselves with guilt and sorrow, fearing the absolute worst. They soon called the police after that and told their friends and Lincoln's friends, Clyde and Ronnie Anne especially, to keep an eye out and to call them immediately if they ever find him. Two weeks later, there was still no sign of the snow-haired boy, not even a trace. In that time, the Loud family further became distraught, each filled with grief and despair.

Rita Loud had not stopped crying ever since her only son went officially missing. She harshly chastised herself for ever believing the ridiculous idea that Lincoln was 'bad luck', convincing herself that she was a bad mother. The mother had always thought that she and her son were close. Hell, she was writing a novel that based on his daily life! Now, though, she truly felt that she did not deserve to have a bond with _any_ of her children, let alone Lincoln. The same could be said for the patriarch of the family. Lynn Loud Sr. felt like a failure. Not only as a father, but also as a _man_. For what kind of man was he to kick his only son out of the warmth and safety of his home? What kind of _father_ would leave his son out in cold, alone and unprotected from the evil and cruelties of the world? In his mind, all blame should be laid squarely on his shoulders. He felt that he deserved all the anger and hate his children may have for him.

The profound sadness was not only being felt by the grieving parents. No, it was also felt, maybe even more so, in their daughters as well.

' _I should've stopped this.'_ was the sorrowful thought often ran through Lori's mind nowadays. As the oldest of her siblings, it fell on her to be responsible and to always watch out for her siblings. And though she frequently butted heads with them, Lincoln in particular, she did love them and cared deeply for them. But, as she so often did, she would falter in that task and would get caught up in whatever situation her siblings got into, particularly anything that involved going against her brother. It was always in the back of her mind, the thought of the one day she and sisters' antics would get Lincoln seriously hurt. Oh, the tears she cried when she turned out to be right…

Leni was in an even worse state than Lori. Like her mother, the ditzy blonde had not stopped crying since Lincoln went missing. She hasn't even spoke a word to anyone, with the exception of the occasional "Lincy, where are you?" and "Please come home, Lincy." that would come out during one of her more tearful episodes. Along with a few others, Leni was one of the sisters who felt she had a close bond with Lincoln. She loved how he always patient with her and guiding her through complex problems, like how wearing shoes did not mean her feet would disappear or how stop the car means wearing white after Labor Day. Now, with the prospect of never seeing her beloved little brother again, all sweet Leni could do was lament and cry.

Luna, since that fateful night, went from being the loudest Loud to a virtually mute, her silence rivaling Lucy's. She also stopped playing music of any kind, her trusty guitar and other instruments gathering dust at this point. Why would she play them, when the one sibling she felt closest to was out there, alone and scared and quite possibly….Luna didn't dare finish that thought, for it was all she could do from breaking down into tears like Leni and her mother. She often blamed herself for not standing up in defense for her dear younger brother. Had she known that this would happen, the aspiring rocker would've slapped Lynn in the mouth.

Like her older sister, Luan had taken to silence as well.

And, no, it's not the mime kind.

She had effectively stopped making jokes and puns, along with her comedy props in a similar state of dust gathering as Luna's instruments. The young comedian had also cease to smile since that night. In her eyes, the day Lincoln went missing was the day all colors of the world turned gray. For how could she could tell a joke if her brother wasn't there to smile and laugh? How could she smile when the most important fan in her life was nowhere to be found?

Lucy Loud virtually made herself into a ghost. That's not to say she herself went missing or ran away, nothing of the sort. No, she, since the night of he brother's disappearance, had myself scarce. No one in her family has seen the goth girl since, but they knew she was still in the house. After all, they can hear her sad moans and grieving sobs in the vents. Lucy would also leave poems behind in random spots for her family to find, effectively let them know they she was still with them. As for the poems themselves? Well, let's just say their contents were borderline….. _slit-inducing._

The twins, Lola and Lana, were not spared of the effect of their big brother's absence. If there were a silver lining to the misery that now plagued the Loud house, it would be the fact that the two had stopped their constant fighting. This brought little to no comfort, however, as the two were now often seen together, holding on to each other as both cried and pleaded to any who could hear them for their older brother to return home safely.

Lisa, for the most part, _tried_ to keep a straight face throughout the two weeks, doing the only rational thing she could to save her family from further turmoil: find Lincoln. So, like her older sister Lucy, she made herself scarce and holed up in her room, using her equipment and every bit of scientific know-how in her prodigal mind to accomplish this task. Yet, much like the police, she turned up with nothing, even after two weeks. _'How?'_ , she thought. _'This doesn't make any sense! You don't just simply disappear and not leave a trail! Lincoln, where are you!?'_ Still, the four year old desperately pressed on with her search, even when tears started to fall down her face without her realizing it. But she was starting to lose hope…

Poor Lily was profoundly confused and saddened by all that was happening around her yet, due to being an infant, could not understand what was happening. Why are mommy and daddy so sad? Why are her sisters so sad? She tried hugs and sloppy kisses to cheer them up, but nothing worked. The baby had also noticed the missing presence of a certain white haired boy who she loved with all of her heart. "Whewo Wincoln?", she would sometimes ask her family, only to be met with more sad faces and tears. Lily didn't understand what was going on, but whatever it is, she didn't like it. She didn't like it at all.

And then there was Lynn.

When Lincoln wasn't on the front porch the following morning, it was Lynn Loud Jr. who first suggested that the boy was merely hiding, attempting to scare them and pull their heartstrings so he can get back inside the house. The family, once again, believed her and went on with their day. It was all well and good until Lincoln's school called, saying that Lincoln didn't show up and were wondering if he was sick. It was at this point that Lynn and the rest of the family grew worried. Sure enough, as night fell and Lincoln still didn't show up, everyone was devastated. But none more so than Lynn. So filled with guilt, sorrow and self-hatred that she went up to her and Lucy's room and destroyed anything that was remotely related to sports. She even broke a couple of her trophies from the family trophy case and would've broke all of them had her parents not intervened. Needless to say, Lynn was inconsolable and cried herself to sleep that night.

Two weeks later, the sporty teenager was now a shadow of her former self. Depressed and fully convinced that all of this was her fault, Lynn barely did anything anymore. She was virtually mute, ate very little and rarely got out of the house anymore. She also got barely a wink of sleep, her nightmares of Lincoln being dragged away by dark spectres as he called out her name for help effectively keeping her from having any sort of comfortable rest. Nowadays, her family would sometimes catch sight of her in Lincoln's room, curled in a ball in the middle of the room and holding his Bun-Bun tight and close to her chest, crying and pleading for forgiveness.

As another night without Lincoln settled on the unfortunate family, all the sisters had only one thought on their mind:

' _I want my little/big brother back.'_

Little did they know, they would soon get their wish…

... _but at a cost._

* * *

 _Loud House, Saturday, 2:30 P.M._

Normally on a day like this, the household would be filled life, laughter and noise in general as was the status quo for this family. This was not the case, however. Currently, Lori, Luna and Luan were watching T.V. in the living room. Or, rather, **trying** to watch T.V. The somber thoughts that ran through their head made it difficult to focus on what was being shown to them. Lynn, Lucy, Lana, Lola, and Lisa had, once again, confined themselves. With Lucy keeping to the vents, the twins holed up in their room with all the housepets, Lisa still being a recluse and Lynn, again, mourning in her missing brother's room. The parents, along with Lily, had decided to spend the weekend over at Aunt Ruth's, leaving Lori to hold down the fort once more.

The front door opened, revealing Leni returning from getting the mail. Her three siblings on the couch paid her no mind as she went to the dining room table and began to filter through the mail. Bills, coupons, magazines, more bills, an envelope with the words "To His Sisters" written in red ink, more bil-wait, what?

Leni blinked before turning her toward the mail she just put down. Dropping the rest of the mail on the table, she picked up the mysterious envelope for a closer look. It didn't have a stamp or any address. It just had the words "To His Sisters" on it…..

' _His Sisters…',_ Leni thought. _What does it mean by his….his….HIS!?'_

The sixteen year old gasped, which was not unheard by the living room's occupants as they turned their attention to her. The ditzy blonde tore into the envelope, her mind and heart increasing in frantic levels. If this is what she thought it was, then she hoped to god that she was wrong. Finally opening it, she pulled out a folded up letter….and a photo that fell out onto the table, the picture facing down.

Seeing her younger sister acting this way, Lori turned back to look at Luna and Luan, who looked each other before looking back at Lori with concern. With a sigh, the eldest Loud got up and made her way towards Leni. Halfway, she noticed the letter her younger sister pulled out and the photo that had fallen out.

"Leni? Are you alright?", Lori asked as she stood behind her sister. At this point, Leni had picked up the photo and turned it over to see the picture on the other side.

Lori didn't know what Leni was seeing, but whatever it was caused the ditzy blonde to hyperventilate and shake intensely. Luna and Luan were coming up behind Lori, very much worried on what was going on.

"Leni! Please talk to me! What's wrong!? What are you seei-"

Lori's statement was cut off as she stood by the fashionista's side and finally got a good look of the photo. What she saw made her feel like her heart was stabbed by an arctic-cold dagger.

 **It was Lincoln. Battered and bruised. Lying on the cold and hard floor in what seemed to be a white hospital gown. His hands tied behind his back and his mouth was duct-taped shut. His eyes, filled with pain and suffering, were bloodshot red and the tears that fell from them stained his face.**

At first, there was silence. Silence to the point where a pin drop could be heard outside the house.

 _Then all bedlam broke loose._

A heart-wrenching scream erupted from Leni's throat, scaring the living hell out of the everyone within the house, including the sisters that were upstairs. Luna and Luan immediately rushed to their distressed sister's side.

"L-Leni, what's wrong!?", said Luan, speaking for the first time in weeks. The sixteen year old said nothing as she twisted around and almost collapsed on the comedian, dropping the photo back on the table and planting her face on the brunette's shoulder as she cried her heart out and blubbered incoherently. Shocked and starting to tear up herself, Luan could only wrap her arms around her older sister in an attempt to comfort her.

"Lori! Why is Leni crying like this? She's never cried this hard before! What happened!?", Luna implored to her eldest sibling, scared and desperate to figure out what the hell was going on. Yet, Lori gave no reply. She only continued to stare at the picture that lied before, wide eyed and praying that what she was seeing wasn't real. That this wasn't what happened to her brother. The young rocker looked down at the picture as well and upon seeing it…

"Wait…..Is that…..W-What the fuck…..what the fuck!? WHAT THE FU-ugh!", the fifteen year old began shouting before feeling an unpleasant feeling roll over in her stomach. Luan quickly dashed into the kitchen and made it to the sink just in time for her to start vomiting. As this happened, a teary-eyed Lori slowly turned her gaze toward the folded up letter that Leni had also dropped in her distress. Picking it up, she unfolded it and began reading it's contents.

At this point, Lynn, Lana, Lola and Lisa were already down the stairs, wondering what commotion was about. Even Lucy, who no one has personally seen in two weeks, finally made her presence known as she exited out of one of the vents near the living room and stood next to her sisters. Upon seeing the tragic scene before them, they were filled with concern…..and, for some reason, dread.

"L-Lori? What happened?" asked Lynn, another first in two weeks, in a quiet and fragile tone.

Luna, with her belly now empty, leaned against one of the walls leading into the kitchen, a miserable expression evident on the tear-stained face as looked to Lori. Luan, finally managing to temporarily calm a now hiccuping Leni, looked to her older sibling as well, her own tears threatening to fall. All eyes looked toward the eldest in search of an answer as to what was going on.

Lowering the letter, the sisters saw Lori's face flooded with her tears as she spoke in the most heartbroken voice they've ever heard.

"Lincoln's been kidnapped."

* * *

 **Author's Notes: They know! Well, at least what happened to Lincoln, but not the why. And this is only the beginning because the sisters are gonna get a call.** _ **Soon.**_ **Find out in the next chapter.**

 **Until then, tell me what you guys think by leaving a review.**

 **Catch ya later!**


	4. Fall Together(Part 2)

**The Loud Awakening**

 **Chapter 3: ….Fall Together(Part 2)**

 **Okay, no joke, you guys are awesome, you know. Just from from my last update, this story went from barely over 1k to almost 2k in under a week. Just wow. Thank you. And before we continue on with the story, there's one review I'd like to comment.**

 **Magus Neon: Thanks for your review. I figured it'd make sense for the girls, especially Lynn, to feel terrible about it. I mean, you'd feel the same way too if it happened to your ONLY brother, right? As for the Loud siblings getting their hands on Tetherby? Don't worry, that** _ **WILL**_ **happen. Just further down the story. Much further.**

 **Now, without further ado, let's read on! And hold onto your butts! This is my longest one yet!**

 **What? No, I don't own The Loud House. Who told you that? I want names!**

* * *

 _Lori & Leni's Room, Fifteen minutes later…_

The 9 daughters of Loud, after barely getting over the gut-punching shock that was Lori's statement, had congregated to the shared bedroom for an emergency sister meeting. Though, to them, emergency wasn't a strong enough word to describe the situation at hand. On Lori's bed sat Leni, Luan, Lucy and Lisa while occupying Leni's bed were Luna, Lynn, Lola and Lana. Pacing a looping circle in the middle of the room was Lori and in the middle of her pacing circle, sitting on a stool placed by her was the letter and photo, with the picture facing down so as not further cause any more distress and emotional pain.

Lori had just recently read the letter to her sisters, which was no simple task considering she almost broke down crying at some parts. The letter read:

 _ **We Have Your Brother, Lincoln.**_

 _ **If You Ever Want To See Him Again, You Will Follow Our Instructions.**_

 _ **If You Attempt To Call The Police, We Will Kill Him.**_

 _ **If You Attempt To Call Your Parents, We Will Kill Him.**_

 _ **If You Attempt To Call Anyone For Help, We Will Kill Him.**_

 _ **We Have Been Watching You And We Know Your Every Move.**_

 _ **A Phone Call Will Be Made To You Soon.**_

 _ **For Your Brother's Sake, You Will Answer.**_

Needless to say, this threat sent the sisters into such a whirlwind of emotional rage and anguish when Lori finished reading that it nearly took her twenty minutes to barely calm them all down. And so here they were, waiting for this dreaded call to be made.

"...don't understand."

Lori stopped her pacing and turned towards her bed, which was where the voice came from. Lisa sat on Luan's lap while Lucy sat on Leni's. The comedian and fashionista each had their arms wrapped around their younger siblings.

"I-I don't understand.", Lucy repeated, her voice no longer in monotone and very much like a little girl scared out of mind for her brother's life. "Why is this happening to us? W-Why is this happening to L-Lincoln? He never did anything wrong. S-So, why…*sniff*...why him?"

Lucy's statement, whether she meant to or not, held some truth and it stung everyone in the room.

"I….I don't know, Lucy. I, honestly, don't why.", quietly replied Lori.

Lucy whimpered as she curled into Leni, causing the older girl to tighten her arms around the small goth.

"You know what I don't get?", spoke a somber Luna as she held Lana and Lola to her sides, an arm around each twin. "How the hell did these... _pricks_ know about us? About Lincoln?"

"I...believe I have an answer to that question.", inquired Lisa, sadly wiping her glasses as all eyes turned toward her. "The letter said that, whoever these criminals are, they've been watching us. For a substantial amount of time, I theorize. Long enough to know our patterns, behaviors, hobbies and antics. As you know, I've built a security system for the house, but they must've somehow bypassed it. Though, what's really bothering me is the timing of all of this."

"Timing?", queried Lynn. "What do you mean?"

"In the two weeks since Lincoln's kidnapping, his captors watched us and didn't send any kind of signal or clue that they took him.", Lisa continued. "Yet today, they did. Is it really a coincidence that, after two weeks, they send us this letter a day after Lily and our parents left for Aunt Ruth's for the weekend?"

Every sister looked toward the ceiling in thought as they took in Lisa's question. Matter of fact, thinking back on it, why was this letter only directed to them and not their parents? If these kidnappers were looking for something like a ransom, they could've went straight for their mom and dad, but they didn't. So the question became: Why them? They had nothing to offer...unless…

"So…", Lana and Lola began at the same time, trying to piece it all together. "...what do they want?"

Lisa was about to answer her older sister's' question when Lori's cellphone vibrated, giving off a generic ring tone. Pulling the device out of her pocket, she checked the caller ID.

 _It read 'Unknown'._

All became deathly quiet as the phone continued to ring. Before the fourth ring ended, Lori tapped the green icon and held the phone to her ear.

"H-Hello?", she shakingly spoke.

" **You answered. Looks like you do care for your brother. Now, put the phone on speaker so the others can hear me."** , a voice replied, completely distorted and unrecognizable.

Lori flinched at how cold and unfeeling the voice sounded before putting her phone on speaker mode and putting it on the stool alongside the letter and photo.

" **Can they hear me?"** , the voice spoke once again, startling the rest of the girls as they finally heard their brother's kidnapper.

"Yes.", Lori simply replied, her voice restrained and neutral.

" **Good. At this point, I take it you all have seen the letter and photo we've sent to you. Hopefully, it properly incentivized you into cooperating."**

"Before you say anything else, I only have one question for you: Just who the hell are you and why did you take our brother!?", Lynn demanded as she stood up from Leni's bed and gave a searing glare at the phone, her anger rising.

" **Who I am is irrelevant. As for why we took your brother? Simple. A client paid us to do the job. Nothing personal."**

"That's bullshit and you know it!", hollered Luna in a rage, releasing the twins as she stood up as well.

"Luna! Language!", quickly reprimanded Lori, not wanting to get on the caller's bad side. Her brother's life may just depend on it.

"Who?", asked a teary-eyed Leni, gently pushing Lucy off her lap as she, too, rose to her feet . "Who would want Lincoln and why?"

" **That information is between me and my client and YOU don't need to know."**

"If I had a dollar that was equal to weight of the BS that we're hearing right now…", Luan snidely commented.

"Luan…", Lori warned.

"No, Lori! I know this doesn't happen often, but I'm being serious!", exclaimed the comedian, putting Lisa off of her lap and getting on her feet. "So far, this jerk has been giving us little to no answers and he still expects us to do everything he says! How do we even know he has Lincoln!?"

Lori was about to retort, the kidnapper beat her to it.

" **Oh? You think I'm bluffing?"**

All five of the older sisters stood there looking at the phone with baited breath while the younger sisters looked on with fear and worry.

" **Heh. I was expecting one of you to say that. Which is why, as sign of good faith, I offer you this."**

Footsteps were heard from the phone as the kidnapper made his over to something. Then came some shuffling and…

...was it them or did they hear whimpering in the background?

" **Alright, boy. You got ten seconds. Make'em count."**

' _Boy?'_ , the girls thought at the same time. Before they could think further on it, a new voice was heard on Lori's phone.

 _A voice they have very much missed in two long weeks._

"G-g-girls...is…*sniff*...is that you?"

Nine gasps were heard simultaneously.

"LINCOLN!", the Loud sisters shouted as they quickly huddled over the phone, the younger siblings jumping off of the beds and joining their older sisters.

"Lincy, where are you!?", "We miss you, big brother!", "Lincoln, I'm so sorry!", and "This is all my fault!" were just some statements the girls shouted out as they tried to talk to their long-missed male sibling.

"SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU!", Lori exploded, effectively silencing her younger siblings before lower her volume and softening her tone . "Lincoln, where are you? Are you alright?"

"I-I don't know w-where I am.", fearfully replied Lincoln. "They p-put a bag over my head. They won't tell me anything. If I ask t-too many questions, they get annoyed and…..a-and….*sob*."

The sound of their only brother crying, along with the helpless feeling of not being there to hug his tears away, shattered their hearts and quickly filled their eyes with tears.

"Girls….I'm….*sniff*...I'm sorry….*sob*...I'm so sorry…", Lincoln managed to tearfully speak before the sound of footsteps was heard and the sounds of their brother's crying faded into silence.

" **Do I now have your cooperation?"** , the distorted voice returned.

Once again, the Loud sisters were distraught. Leni was on her knees as she cried into her hands. Lucy and Lisa were wrapped in the arms of a kneeling Luan, all three of them heavy with tears as well. Lola and Lana pretty glued themselves to Luna's legs as the duo tearfully wept for their brother. Lynn and Luna stood there, silent with tightly closed eyes, clenched teeth and fists shaking with rage and sorrow as they cried. Lori could only stand and look at her phone in absolute defeat as her tears stained her face.

"What do you want?", the eldest Loud sibling asked in a broken voice.

Her cell phone gave off a ping noise, indicating that it received a text.

" **The text message you just received contains a set of coordinates. You will wait until tonight, preferably ten o'clock, then you will drive to those coordinates. You will receive further instruction when you get there. I suggest you don't be late. I'd hate for your brother to be a recipient to further beatings from my crew, all because you were wasting their time."**

And with that, he ended the call, leaving the girls with a crucial decision to make.

 _Do they or do they not do as they were told?_

For Lori, the answer was clear.

"Lisa?", she began as she walked over and picked up her phone.

"*sniff*...Yes, eldest sibling?", Lisa softly replied, wiping her eyes as she detached herself from Luan.

"Canyou take these coordinates and tell me where exactly this location is?", Lori asked as she handed her phone to the prodigy.

"It will only take me a minute.", the four year old said as she read the text and began going through the phone's map app to put in the coordinates.

"Luna?", Lori called out at she turned to the rocker.

"Yeah?", responded the fifteen year old with her head lowered, her voice hushed and heavy with emotion.

"When the time comes, I need you to be in charge of the house tonight while I go get Lincoln. While that's happening, call mom and da-"

"I'm sorry, but what?"

Lori turned toward the source of the indignant tone and saw that Leni was back on her feet and staring at her with a look of incredulousness and disbelief.

"Yeah, ya mind repeating what you just said?"

Turning toward Lynn, Lori was met with the same look Leni just had on the sporty Loud's face. Matter of fact, as she looked around, Lori noticed that all of her younger siblings had the same expression as Leni, even Lucy with her bangs. Luan was standing up again and twins had pried themselves from Luna's legs. Lisa had even stopped what she was doing to stare at her.

"I….I'm going to get Lincoln. While all of you remain here.", The eldest Loud child proclaimed, saying it like it was the obvious thing in the world.

Alas, to her shock, that was the wrong thing to say as she her sisters just glared at her.

"Nuh-uh, dude. Try again.", retorted Luna, crossing her arms.

"Huh? Try what again?", said Lori, confused.

"What you just said. Fix it.", Lucy spoke with narrowed eyes, even though her sisters couldn't see them.

"What I just sa-Look, girls. All I said was that I'm the one who is going out there to get our brother back. What's wrong with that?", the elder sibling repeated, still confused and now a tad irritated. She didn't understand why they were arguing about this.

"Wow. Lori, you're being pretty dense, even by Leni standards. No offense, Leni.", quipped Luan.

"Like, none taken.", acknowledged the sixteen year old.

"Oh my god, this is literally not the time for this! What the hell is wrong with what I said!?", shot Lori, getting fed up with what was happening.

Her sisters continued to glare at her.

"Are you guys gonna tell her or do you want me to tell her?", suggested Lana.

"No, I'll do it", Lola answered. "Lori, that sentence you said? Say it again, only replace 'I'm' with 'We are'."

"Urrrgh, fine! We are going to go get our brot-", Lori cut herself off as she actually processed what she was saying.

Were they honestly suggesting…..

…..oh.

Oh….

 **OH!**

…..no.

No.

No no no.

 _Hell_ No.

No. No. No…..

 **...NO!**

"Absolutely not! You are literally NOT coming with me!", fiercely proclaimed Lori, finally realizing what her sisters were telling her.

"And why not?", Luna quickly shot back with defiance in her eyes.

"Why not!? In case you weren't with us for the past several minutes, we are dealing with real kidnappers who snatched our brother up in the dead of night! This isn't one of those stupid action movies you like to watch, Luna! These are real-life criminals! Therefore, as the oldest member of this house right now, I will go and all of you will stay here!", ordered Lori, expecting them to listen and obey her, especially when she got mad. Yet, to her shock and dismay, she was met with more defiance and an equal amount of anger as well.

"And as your sisters, we're telling you that's not happening!", Luan shouted at her older sister. "You, going by yourself and no one to back you up!? That's exactly what happened to Lincoln when he got taken!"

"Luan is right, Lori.", concurred Lucy. "Lincoln had no one watching over him that night and when he needed us the most, we were not there to save him. It only stands to reason that, if you alone go there, the same thing will surely happen to you."

"That's why I'm telling you to stay here! While I'm gone, you can call mom and dad to tell them what's happening and then call the police and tell them what's going on so they can send people after me and Lincoln!", Lori vehemently implored.

"Lori, weren't you listening to what that guy said!? They got us on watch! We do so much as look at anything funny and they will kill Lincoln!", chimed in Lynn.

The eldest Loud sister cursed inwardly. Damn, she forgot about that.

"Lisa, do you think-"

"The answer is negative.", Lisa spoke, cutting off Lori question. "The amount of time it would take for me to thoroughly check and scan every corner of every room of every floor of the house and general property would be, at the earliest, a day. And time, right now, is not a luxury that we have."

Lori closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling very much like she nearing the end of her rope.

"Girls, listen to me.", the elder blonde tried one more time to make her younger siblings see sense. "You cannot come with me. This is bigger than you think it is!"

"And you don't think we see that!?", shot Lola. "This is our brother's life we're talking about!"

"Yet, here you are, telling us to stay here and twiddle our thumbs while you risk your life to save his! We want to find him just as much as you do, Lori! How can you possibly ask us to do that!?", added Lana, standing by her twin's side.

"And how can all of you possibly ask me to take you with me!?", spat Lori with tears coming down her red eyes, finally snapping under the combined burden of the emotional turmoil and dire implications of the situation. "Do you even realize what you're asking of me!? You're asking me to risk all of our lives in a situation where we could possibly DIE! This isn't just about Lincoln's life or mine! This is about everyone's lives! Bobby, Ronnie Anne, Clyde, our friends, Mom, Dad, Lily! LILY, you guys! If all of us go out there and die, not only would Mom and Dad lose 10 kids in one night, but Lily would become an only child and would never know what it felt like to live in a home with 10 siblings who loved her to death! Is that what you want for her!? Is that what you want her life to be like!?"

Lori's tearful outburst rendered her younger sisters speechless and in tears, having never thought about the consequences of it meant if all of them went with her. It almost made them comply with her and let her be the one to go.

 _Almost._

As Lori stood there and sobbed into her hands, Lucy stepped forward.

"Lori? I wish to tell you something. Something that only Lincoln knows and no one else does."

The elder sister lifted her head and turned her sad and tired gaze to the little goth.

"I was the one who clogged the toilet that day."

Shocked eyes all around as the sisters stared at the eight year old.

"Wait a minute...so that means-", Lisa began.

"That Princess Pony book wasn't Lincoln's. It was mine.", Lucy finished, slightly lowering her head in shame as she recalled that event.

"That was you?", Luan queried. "But then why did Lincoln say it was his?"

"Because I told him that I was afraid of what would happen if any of you found out that I liked such things. So, in a manner of speaking, he took the bullet for me."

All of the girls grimaced as they remembered that day. How they laughed and mocked at him for having something so girly. The punishment he received and how it ultimately made him miss out on going to a convention. To find out that he was innocent and unjustly paid for it only made feel even more guilty.

"L-Lucy, why are you telling us this now?" asked Lori as she wiped away her tears.

"Because I acted like a coward that day. Too afraid to face criticism and teasing, I hid behind the shield that was my brother and he took all the blame and ridicule.", Lucy elaborated as she got teary-eye.

"Just like me…"

All eyes turned to a tearful Lynn as she, too, stepped forward.

"I….I should've never blamed Lincoln in the first place. I should've just accepted that I just didn't work hard enough to win that game and take the loss. Instead, I acted like an idiot and blamed Lincoln for the loss like the worst kind of sore loser. God, I even threatened him with a baseball bat into going to that damn game!"

"You what!?", the sisters exclaimed, but Lynn ignored them and continued.

"He…..he does so much for us! He goes beyond for us and asks for nothing in return! Though he's no angel himself, he admits his mistakes and always does his best to fix them! The same can't be said for us!"

The jock's words resonated through the sisters by how true they were. After every incident, more often than not, the girls just went right back to their usual habits and made the same mistakes all over again while Lincoln always learned from them and made it a point to never repeat them. And it wasn't just the 'bad luck' incident, too. The sweet spot, the energy saving, the grocery shopping, the Sister Fight Protocol and more! All of those events, Lincoln made it his mission to correct them and make the family stronger from them.

 _It truly made them feel like they didn't deserve a brother like him._

"When we were younger, I made him a promise.", onward Lynn spoke, wiping her eyes and looking Lori in the eye. "I promised Lincoln that, _no matter what_ , I will always be there to support and protect him from whatever may seek to do him harm. I failed to uphold that promise….but I refuse to fail again, not now. WE are going to get Lincoln back! And neither rain nor sleet nor hell nor YOU are gonna tell us not to do so!

Lori was taken aback by her sporty little sister, dumbstruck by the seemingly reignited _fire_ that was heard in her words and seen in her determined eyes.

And she wasn't the only one.

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Lynn." commented Luna as she walked over and stood next to her. "Lynn and Lucy are right, Lori. Lincoln always had our back, even if it was at a personal cost. We're way overdue to do the same. Louds always watch over each other. _No matter what._ "

"Luna…", Lori said in a hush, trying to convince them again to not go with her, but knew she was fighting a losing war. "Stop this…...Think about our friends…..our family…"

"Lincoln's a part of that family too, big sis.", Luna chimed in as she, too, stood with Luna and Lynn. "And families stick together. _No matter what._ "

"The path we are about to take is dark and will cause great pain for our loved ones, especially Mom and Dad. Of that, there is no doubt", Lucy quipped, her monotone returning as she joined her older sisters. "But, that pain will only be greater if we don't go with you. For family, we do what we must. _No matter what._ "

"Luan….Lucy….Please…", the eldest sister responded, now shaking. She didn't want to believe what was happening right now…

"Even if something happens to us, Lincy's still out there! He needs us now, more than ever!", proclaimed Lola.

"What those crooks don't know is that this family's a pack: You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!", added Lana.

"We do this together!", both twins said at the same time, holding hands as they stood alongside their older sisters. " _No matter what!_ "

"It doesn't take a mind like mine to know that this will only end in an unfortunate outcome. By all reason, we shouldn't we go with you. And yet, even with all the fact laid out in front of us,...I will simply not stand idly by while my brother suffers.", announced Lisa, standing with the growing group as well. "For Lincoln, we shall undertake this endeavor and see it fully to it's end. _No matter what._ "

"Lana...Lola...Lisa...No…", cracked Lori, on the verge of giving in.

"Lori…", began Leni.

The eldest Loud sister turned toward the ditzy blonde, only to see her….. _smiling._

Lori swore her heart stopped beat for a full second.

For the first time in two long weeks, Leni was smiling her sweet smile.

The young blonde then came up to her older sister and gave her a loving hug, shocking the elder blonde even further. And slowly, one by one, the others came and added in their own hug until Lori was in the middle of a big sisterly group hug.

"For our family, Lori. We will go with you." said Leni, still smiling. " _No matter what._ "

Those three words were what finally broke Lori as she bursted into tears and hugged her sister back. Yet, at the same time, she also laughed. Both in relief and in self-reprimand.

Relief because, though she will never it aloud, she was glad she wasn't going alone.

Self-reprimand because, in hindsight, she should've known her sisters wouldn't let her go alone.

"Alright…*sniff*...I guess it settled then.", said Lori, tears still falling down as she smiled at her younger sisters. "We'll all go. And we'll be there for Lincoln…..

 _...no matter what."_

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Louds don't let Louds go at it alone.**

 **Let me know what think you of this chapter with a review!**

 **Catch ya later!**


	5. Fall Together(Part 3)

**The Loud Awakening**

 **Chapter 4: ….Fall Together(Part 3)**

 **Did….did That Engineer just review my work? And is looking forward to more?**

… **.*Head explodes in a shower of fireworks and cute beastgirls***

 **Good lord, what's next!? The two kings of Loudcest putting in a review!? Yeah, that'll be the day!**

 **Loud House fanfic masters taking notice aside, I'm happy you all are enjoying yourselves. I hope I can continue to meet, maybe even exceed, your expectations. Now onto the reviews:**

 **gamelover: Glad you gave this story a chance. You won't be disappointed.**

 **364wii: Well, I'm sure a "Lincoln gets kidnapped" NSL story has been done before, it's nowhere near as played out as either the "Lincoln dies", the "Lincoln hates his family", the "Lincoln runs away" or the "Lincoln doesn't forgive them initially" NSL stories. Just hoped that the prologue and first chapter gave you clues on my unique take on No Such Luck.**

 **Alright, that's enough talk from me! Let's get on with the story!**

 **Me? Owning The Loud House? Ha! I wish!**

* * *

 _Somewhere along I-75 North, 10:24 P.M._

All was quiet in Vanzilla as Lori drove with her sisters toward their destination. Hours earlier, Lisa had pinpointed the coordinates and concluded that their location was an entrance to a hiking trail at Indian Springs Metropark, approximately 41 miles northwest of Royal Woods. Making note of it, Lori made sure the old family van was fueled up for the near 50 minute before hitting the road. She also had Lisa installed a GPS system into Vanzilla, due to the fact that the family had never driven in that direction before. Currently, the sisters had past Troy and were nearing Auburn Hills.

With Lori in the driver's seat, Leni rode shotgun. Luna, Lynn and Lisa occupied the first row while Luan, Lucy, Lana and Lola claimed the second row. The twins and Lucy had opted to taking quick snooze during the trip, with the eight year old leaning her head against the window and the two six year olds laying their heads on Luan's lap.

Hearing a shuddering sigh coming from the driver, Leni turned to see a very anxious looking Lori. The fashionista laid a calming hand on the older blonde's shoulder.

"Lori? Are you alright?", Leni asked.

Lori turned and looked at her younger sister for a moment before returning her gaze to the road and taking a deep breath.

"Physically, yes. Mentally, no.", Lori replied, sighing. "I'm a nervous wreck, Leni. My brain is going a mile a minute, literally screaming at me how much of a terrible idea this is."

"Sometimes, the right choice is the hardest one, dude.", commented Luna as she laid her head back, staring at the van's ceiling in thought.

"I know that. But it doesn't make it any less stressful on my mind…..or my heart."

"Like, don't think too hard on it, Lori. I'm sure we'll be fine.", reassured Leni.

Lori shook her head and gave a light-hearted scoff. Leave it to the sixteen year old to remain half-full on anything, whether it be fashion or a highly dangerous rescue mission.

"Besides,", continued the ditzy blonde. "What's the worst that can happen?"

You can also leave it to the sixteen year old to ask a question that had a ridiculously obvious answer.

"Don't answer that!", Lori, Luna, Luan and Lynn loudly whispered at Lisa so as not to disturb Lucy and the twins. The four year old genius, who had a finger raised and was about to answer, promptly shut down her response with a shrug.

"A number of things can happen, Leni. A _great_ number of things.", Lori answered instead.

"Well, no use in getting cold feet and going back. _Heart_ ly the time for second thoughts, now. Heh.", chimed in Luan before realizing what she just said. And, apparently, so did everyone else that was awake as they turned to the back row to stare at the comedian in surprise, with Lori looking through the rear view mirror.

"Was...was that….a pun?", Lynn spoke in disbelief.

"The first one in two weeks, I believe.", added Lisa. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I honestly missed hearing them."

"Same here, though I think she could've had better timing with that.", Lori criticised as she focused on the road.

"Hey, cut me some slack. It's been a while, so I'm a little rusty.", pouted Luan in a huff.

Everyone chuckled at that, which was refreshing. As dire as this entire quagmire was, a good laugh brought some much-needed levity and a bit of hope to the sisters. For the rest of the trip, the girls made small talk and reminisced on fun memories, ranging from first accomplishments to hilarious misadventures. Even Lucy, Lana and Lola had smiles on their faces as pleasant dreams were had in their sleep.

For a time, the sisters had regained a sense of normalcy.

A sense of when all of this never happened.

A sense….of when they were a big and happy family.

Alas, sooner than they were comfortable with, their treasured memories of happier times would come to an end…

 _...and the cruel fate that awaited them would begin._

* * *

 _Indian Springs Metropark, 10:50 P.M._

On a dark and starry night, the crescent moon shined dully in the sky as Vanzilla pulled into the empty parking lot and parked in one of the vacant spots. By this time, all the sisters were now wide awake and stared at the dark forest the trail lead into.

"Welp….here we are.", gulped Luna, very much nervous now that they've arrived.

"Ominous and foreboding, these woods are. For once, I am not looking forward to **this** dark place." said Lucy, apprehension cracking through her monotone.

"L-Lola? Remember that s-story we read online? Y-you know, the one about the lost boy and forest of d-dead spirits?", stuttered a spooked Lana.

"You're bringing that up now!?", chastised Lola, sounding equally frightened.

"Did you hear about the nine girls that went wandering into a dark forest?", began a fearfully giggling Luan.

"Not helping!", the twins shouted in unison at the comedic teenager.

"For the sake of preventing further elevation of fear levels, I'll refrain from reporting how much further our already miniscule chances just went down.", stated a Lisa in shaking tone.

"It doesn't matter what our chances are now.", Lynn spoke, scared herself yet didn't show it. "We're here now and there's no going back."

"She's right, you guys.", added Leni with a frightful yet determined look on her face. "If going into this, like, creepy forest gives us the tiniest chance of getting Lincy back, then we have to take it. _No matter what_ , remember?"

Upon hearing the fashionista's words, the younger siblings strengthened their resolve and gained determined looks of their own as they nodded at Leni. She then turned her gaze to Lori, who had shut off the engine as soon as they parked and had remained silent since then. The elder blonde took deep breaths as she rested her forehead on the steering wheel, her hands clutching it with a hard grip and her eyes shut tightly. She looked like trying hard not to cry again. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Lori slowly turned her head and opened her eyes to see Leni giving her a sad yet understanding smile.

 _She wondered if this would be the last time she would ever see her younger sister's sweet smile._

Lifting her head off the steering wheel, she looked back and saw all of her younger sisters giving her their own reassuring smile.

 _She wondered if this would the last time she would see_ _ **any**_ _of her younger siblings' smiles._

That thought nearly made her break down into tears again.

"Alright, let's do this.", Lori spoke, almost quietly as she unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door. And so, all the sisters exited Vanzilla, with Leni making sure to grab the heavy duty flashlight from the glove compartment before leaving. After regrouping, Lori had just locked the van when her pocket vibrated. Pulling her cell phone out, she tapped it and saw that she had received a text. The other clamored around their eldest sibling to see the message.

" **Walk the trail. Don't stop unless told otherwise."** , she read aloud before sighing and stashing her phone back into her pocket.

"Before we go in, there something I need to tell you. All of you." Lori announced in a soft, almost motherly tone before turning back towards her siblings and giving them a sad yet loving smile.

"I love you. No matter what happens in there, never forget that I will always love you."

The younger sisters looked at Lori in surprise for a second before their eyes filled with tears and quivering lower lips were seen.

"L-Loriiiiii!", Leni cried out as she ran up and hugged her big sister with all the love she could muster. Half a second later, the rest of the sisters joined in to show their love as well. Soon enough, all the sisters gave individual hugs to each other, along with more 'I love you's. With that need taken care of, the sistesr now turn toward the dark forest, scared of what may lie within but all the more determined to see this through.

"Stick together." said Lori as she turned on the flashlight and walked forward, her sisters following as they entered.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

For what felt like the past half hour, Lincoln had been sitting here.

Where's 'here'? Well, that's what he would like to know, too, but couldn't at the moment due to being blindfolded, as well as his arms and ankles bound in rope and having his mouth duct-taped...again. Though, from what he could hear, he guessed he was in a forest somewhere. From what he could feel, with his butt and bare feet, he was sitting on something rough and hard.

A sidewalk? A nature trail, maybe?

The boy truly didn't know. And sorta didn't bother to care at this point.

All he knew was that he was miserable.

Been miserable for the past two weeks.

Bad enough he got kidnapped and even worse that missed his friends and family something terrible, but his treatment while being under these, he figured, mercenaries' 'care' for the last fourteen days nearly broke Lincoln. Given scraps or bad tasting food whenever he got hungry, enduring freezing showers, sometimes wetting himself when they didn't let him use the bathroom, the list goes on. And during the rare time where he wasn't duct-taped, if Lincoln started asking too many questions, they would….'correct his misbehavior'.

He was pretty sure that whatever question he may have asked weren't intrusive enough to warrant being beaten black and blue over.

Yet, today was particularly strange.

Few hours ago, Lincoln was lying in a room, he didn't know what kind of room it was due to being blindfolded then as well, when he started hearing voices and various movement outside of the room. From what he could hear, it sounded like something came up and they were about to move. Then, some merc came in, hauled the boy to his feet and started dragging him somewhere. Lincoln had asked where they were going, only to receive a punch to the gut, a curt response of "shut the fuck up" and duct tape planted over his mouth. A minute of so later, Lincoln was thrown into the trunk of a car and spent nearly what felt like almost an hour in there as he was driven somewhere. When the car finally stopped, the mercs lifted Lincoln out of the trunk and, once again, dragged him to wherever they were going. From the coolness of the air and chorus of crickets, he assessed that night had already fallen. A few minutes later, they stopped, made the boy sit down, told him to "stay there or we'll break your legs" and walked off. That had been thirty minutes ago and Lincoln had remained here since.

And the eleven year old couldn't help but wonder…

' _Why?'_ , Lincoln thought to himself. _'Why would they just leave me out here? On path where anyone can run into me, no less. What would they gain from doing this? Am I being used as bait? Yeah...Yeah, that has to be what this is! I'm bait. But….then who am I ba-'_

"...alking for several minutes now."

Lincoln's internal thoughts were interrupted when he heard a voice speaking somewhere off in the distance. The young boy swiveled his head around, trying to pinpoint where the voice came from.

"It said to keep walking on the trail unless told otherwise, so that's what..."

Ah, there! It sounded like it was coming from the front.

Wait….that voice just now. It sounded...familiar.

"Well, I _trail_ to see the the logic in not following those orders…"

A pun….a bad pun….no, it can't be…..

"Okay, that one was obvious AND bad, luv."

Luan! And that voice just now! He recognized that husky, British accent anywhere! That was Luna!

Lincoln began to struggle in his bonds and scream as loud as he could, even though the duct tape was rendering his screaming ineffective. But he didn't care. Right now, he was doing everything in his power to call out to his sisters.

"Hey, did you guys hear that?"

' _Over here! OVER HERE!'_ , Lincoln loudly thought as he continued struggling with all of his being.

"Yeah, I hear it too. It sounds like it's coming from down the trail."

Well, that answered the question of where he was currently sitting in the middle of.

Yet, as the the voices and, soon enough, footsteps began getting closer and closer to him, the eleven year old couldn't help but go back to his earlier question.

 _Who was he baiting?_

In an instant, Lincoln stopped struggling and froze where he sat as he came to a horrific realization.

' _Oh my god…..Oh my god!'_ , the boy thought in rising panic as the footsteps stopped and several gasps were heard. _'I'M BAITING THEM!'_

"LINCOLN!", nine separate voices cried out in joy and relief.

' _NO! Stay away from me! Run!',_ Lincoln screamed in silence as his struggling started once more, this time trying to signal to his sisters to stay away. Alas, he failed. If anything, his appearance only made them go to him even faster, if the rapidly approaching footsteps were anything to go by. Sure enough, warm and soft arms quickly lifted him up and tightly wrapped around him, pressing him up against an equally warm and soft body. If he had to guess, it was Leni who was holding him right now.

"Oh thank god we found you, Lincy! We were, like, so worried about you!", Leni exclaimed with tears of joy running down her face as she hugged her little brother. A half a second later, Lynn crashed into Lincoln, nearly toppling Leni as the jock wrapped her arms around Lincoln. Next came Lana and Lola, wrapping their arms around his legs. Next came Luna, then Lucy, then Luan, then Lisa and finally Lori.

At any other time, Lincoln would've been over the moon that his sisters came for him. While a part of him was overly happy about that, another part of him despaired over the fact that, in the end, he lured them into a trap.

"*sniff*...Alright, girls.", Lori began, wiping away her joyful tears. "Let's get Linc out of these bindings."

As her sisters obliged, Lori took the time to look at Lincoln's appearance. He was back in his orange polo shirt and blue jeans, albeit dirted and he was bare-footed. The photo didn't lie about the bruises, though. With her flashlight, she could see them on his arms and cheeks, with likely more hidden underneath his clothes.

Thanks to Lisa's built-in mini laser in her watch, the ropes that bound Lincoln's arms and ankles were cut. Now free, the boy ripped the blindfold and duct tape off, the latter of which left a stinging sensation as he did it with haste.

"Girls, I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am and how happy I am to see.", he began, urgency peppering his voice. "But you need to get out of here! You don't know what's go-"

"First off, Lincoln, you have nothing to be sorry for. Secondly, we do know.", Lori interrupted.

The Man with the Plan stared at the elder blonde, shocked from what she just said.

"A….All of you knew?", he asked, to which his sisters nodded. "But...but then, why did you come? If you knew, then why didn't you stay away?"

"Mainly because your kidnappers threatened your life, my dear brother.", explained Lisa, adjusting her glasses. "But, also because we wouldn't dare leave you alone in this."

"She's right, dude.", concurred Luna. "Through thick and thin, we stick together."

"But, this is different! This nothing like trying to find buried treasure or finding ghosts in the basement!", urged Lincoln. "The things those guys did to me, they will surely do to you!"

"We know that, Lincy.", said Leni with a kind smile. "And we totally don't care."

"But...what about-"

"Before you ask, yes. We have thought about what this would mean for our friends and family. Especially Mom, Dad and Lily.", uttered Lucy, cutting Lincoln off.

"And we still decided that this was worth it. That you are worth it.", Luan added.

"But you're giving up so much just for me!", exclaimed Lincoln, on the verge of crying. "I can't be worth all of that!"

"Don't you ever say you're not worth it!", snapped Lynn, putting her hands on her brother's shoulders. "Even if your life wasn't in danger, this still would've been the outcome!"

"We love you, Lincoln, and we'll always there with you, through good times and bad! So you better get used to that, you dummy!", quipped Lola, still hugging her brother's leg.

"Yeah, deal with it!", agreed Lana, clutching his other leg.

Lincoln couldn't…..oh, who was he kidding? He **could** believe it. He **could** believe that his beloved sisters came for him, despite the dangers and consequences it would bring.

And believe it he did.

' _Because they truly love me.'_ , Lincoln thought with a smile, even as tears trailed down his face. _'As I truly love them.'_

"I wouldn't trade any of you girls for the world.", spoke the eleven year old, love evident in his voice. This brought watery eyes and smiles to the girls' faces and were about to issue another family group hug...

"Now isn't this a touching family moment?"

 _...when reality came crashing in._

The sisters quickly snapped their gaze toward the direction of the cold voice. With Lori's flashlight, they spotted a masked man wearing a vest, jeans and combat boots standing on the trail they just came from. Lincoln recognized him as the same man that sat next to him back in Royal Woods.

And he wasn't alone.

From the surrounding forest, more men of similar appearance, some of them carrying weapons, began to pour out and surround the Loud children in a wide circle, cutting off any chance of escape. There were about twenty men in total, outnumbering the Louds two to one.

Immediately, Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan and Lynn formed a protective circle around their younger siblings. Lincoln did his part by kneeling down wrapping his arms around Lucy, Lana, Lola and Lisa, the four of which clung onto him like a lifeline.

"And here I thought getting all ten of you was going to be hard.", the masked man in front of them, the leader most likely, spoke as he stepped forward. "I must admit, I almost feel bad for what's about to happen to you kids….. **almost**."

"Who are you!? What do you want with us!?" demanded Lori, putting on a brave front despite how terrified is actually is.

"Oh, it's not me and my men that want you.", the leader said as he reached inside his vest and pulled out a…

A grenade!?

" **It's Tetherby that wants you."**

The Loud children had no time to react to that name before the masked man pulled the pin and threw the grenade at them. Now fearing the absolute worst, the older siblings quickly turned and wrapped their arms around their younger brother and sisters in an attempt to shield them from the blast.

A second or two later, the grenade exploded, but not in a fiery blast…

...but in a thick cloud of gas.

For several seconds, coughing and wheezing could be heard in the cloud. Two minutes later, the cloud dissipated, revealing the Loud siblings lying on the ground, unconscious.

"Alright, boys. Round and pack'em up. Get rid of the van they came in too. I don't want a single trace of them being here."

 _To be continued…_

* * *

 **Author's Notes: And done! We're through with this 'arc'. The next one begins in the next chapter and that's where the story really starts to pick up steam!**

 **Like always, tell me how this story is treating you by leaving a review.**

 **Catch ya later!**


	6. Their Lives, His Subjects

**The Loud Awakening**

 **Chapter 5: Their Lives, His Subjects**

 **Me: Am I "anime"-ing this? I hope not….am I?**

 **Inner Me: You're gonna "anime" the shit out of this!**

 **Me: If I do, I'll be damned if it's bad!**

 **Anyway, let's read a review:**

 **DreadedCandiru2: Well, look at you being perceptive! Not spoiling anything, but I will say this….you're warm.**

 **Now, read on, ya rascals! Oh, and hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!**

 ***In Yoda's voice* Own The Loud House, I do not.**

* * *

 _Opening his eyes, Lincoln became confused by his current surroundings._

 _For he was standing in an open field of knee-high golden grass, the gentle breeze causing the grass sway and shimmer like a golden sea. The field stretched endlessly, reaching to the horizon and beyond. The sun shined brightly in the cloudless golden-tinted sky. Directly under the sun, several yards away from the boy, sat a hill. And on that hill sat a great oak tree, it's many branches ending with beautiful glowing white leaves. Seeing how there was no place to go, Lincoln started walking toward the tree. Yet, as he got closer, he began to notice something at the base of the mighty tree and wondered._

' _What is that?', the young boy thought as he got closer. By the time he stopped at the base of the hill, he got his answer._

 _It was a man. A man clad in what appeared to be gold and white armor sitting at the base of the tree. The man looked like a classic knight of the Dark Ages. The knight seemed to notice Lincoln standing at the bottom of the hill and stood up. Lincoln took a step back, weary of the armored man's actions._

" _ **Fear not, young one"**_ _, a deep yet noble voice spoke out._ _ **"I hold nor wish any quarrel with thy."**_

 _Lincoln was surprised, not because the knight spoke, but because the knight spoke to him as if he was directly in front of him._

" _W-Who are you? What is this place?", Lincoln asked the knight._

" _ **In time, thou wilt know."**_ _, the knight replied, cryptically._ _ **"For now, I ask thou this: What be it dost thou protect?"**_

" _Huh?", answered the snow-haired Loud, perplexed by the question, as well as the knight's odd way of speaking. But before Lincoln could even begin his reply…_

" _Lincoln…", A familiar voice rang out. As that happened, the sun began to shine brighter, it's light becoming blinding._

" _Ugh..W-wait….Wait a second!", exclaimed Lincoln, putting his hand out to shield his eyes from the sun's brightness._

" _Lincy, come back to us."_

" _ **We shall meet again, young one."**_ _, spoke the knight before the the sun's brightening light obscured him, along with the oak tree and hill._

" _Wait!", the eleven year old yelled as the sun's light consumed everything in white._

" _Lincoln!"_

* * *

 _At an unknown location…_

With a mumble, Lincoln cracked open his eyes. Blinking a few times to rid himself of his blurry vision, he looked up into the worried visage of…

"Leni?", he croaked, to which his older sister breathed a sigh of relief.

"You're awake, thank goodness. Girls, like, Lincy's awake!", Leni called out as she helped her little brother to his feet. Soon after that, the girls all gathered around the eleven year old.

"Lincoln!", both Lana and Lola shouted as they ran up and hugged their big brother's legs, which made him smile and rubbed their heads in comfort and reassurance.

"How are you feeling, bro?", Luna asked with a concerned voice.

"I'll be fine. What about you, girls? Are you okay?", queried Lincoln, putting his sisters' well being as top priority.

"Aside from a few nicks and scratches, we're good.", responded Lori. "I will say this though: My heart stopped for three seconds when that masked creep pulled out a grenade on us. I, literally, thought we were going to die."

' _Oh crap, I almost forgot about that.'_ , The Man with the Plan thought to himself with a shudder as he recalled the events of that terrible night.

"Yeah, I'm all for going out with a _bang_ , but not in a literal sense. Hehe...he…", nervously joked Luan, who only got glares and narrowed eyes from her siblings in response. "Okay, give me a break, you guys. I'm coping right now."

"While staying positive in situations like this is beneficial, I doubt puns are going to offer much assistance in our current state of affairs.", said Lisa.

"Oh yeah, speaking of which, where….are…...we?", Lincoln trailed off as he finally paid attention to his current surroundings. Currently, the Loud siblings were standing in a large completely white room, which looked big enough to hold 50 people. The tiled floor was smooth and, to the boy's still bare feet, cool to the touch and the ceiling was smooth as well with built-in lights that made them look like they were inside the ceiling itself. The only features that made the room stand out was the mirror that took up the majority of the wall to their far left and the 'door' at the front of the room, which didn't look like any conventional door the children had ever seen. It looked like one of those sealed hatches from one of Lincoln's sci-fi games featuring a certain female space bounty hunter.

"That's what we've been trying to figure out for the past several minutes, but to no avail so far.", answered Lucy.

"And what's worse is that we can't go through the door", chimed in Lynn, jabbing a thumb back at said door. "Lisa says it can only be opened from the other side."

"Meaning we're trapped in here with no way out!", Lola exclaimed as she looked up at her brother with scared eyes.

"We've triple checked this entire room and found nothing to get out of here with!", concurred Lana, equally just as scared.

"And I think we all know one man to blame for all of this.", spoke Lincoln, his voice gaining an edge as he recalled the last words the masked man said last night. At their brother's words, the girls remembered those words as well.

"Lord Tetherby.", all the siblings said in disdain and disgust.

"Like, why did that fat meanie go out of his way just to kidnap us?", queried the fashionista.

"Well, it's clearly not anything financial. He has cash in spades.", inputted Lisa.

"If it's not money he's after, then what the hell does he want?", grumbled Lori, frustrated over not getting any answers.

But, as we all know, speak of the devil…

" **It's not what I want from you, it's what you can provide for me."**

… _.and he will appear._

Startled, the Loud children whirled around toward the center of the room, where the clear holographic image of Tetherby stood, as smug and arrogant as they remembered.

"Lord Tetherby.", Lori hissed as she gave the rich fat man a glare of a thousand daggers.

" **Hello, children. Lincoln, good to see you again. Regretting giving up the high life?"** , the portly man began, sarcasm lacing his voice as he disregarded the narrowed eyes and angered glares of the Loud siblings.

"The feeling's definitely not mutual, Tetherby. And I don't have single regret about what I did.", Lincoln responded, not even bothering to hide his animosity toward the fat man.

" **Hmmm, what a shame. I guess it's true: You can lead a horse to a water hole, but you can't make the horse drink….unless you force him to."** , said Tetherby with a cruel smile.

"You're not forcing us to do anything, you fat bastard!", Luna rebelled. Lori would've chastised the young rocker for the foul language, but she was feeling just as incensed so she let it slide.

" **Hmph. I am reminded of how uncouth and wild your rabble of family is. Honestly, how can anyone stand to even live next to you? Dare I say, I did your foolish parents a favor by taking ten of their children away. They really deserve only one child, less filth to plague the streets with."** , Tetherby continuedwith a condescending sneer, his spiteful and hateful words causing the Loud siblings to become even more outraged, even Lucy and Leni were shown gritting their teeth in anger.

"How 'bout you get your fat ass down here and say that to our faces!? We'll show you how 'uncouth and wild' we can get!", shouted an enraged Lynn. The audacity of this fat piece of shit to slander and insult her family and their name.

"Yeah! No one calls our parents foolish and gets away it, you walking tub of lard!", Lola screeched, livid as she stood next to her sporty sister. Lana was on Lynn's other side, down on all fours and growling menacingly at the hologram of the fat man.

" **How dare you! Is this how you speak to elders!?"** , bellowed the portly rich man, offended by the clear and blatant disrespect these heathens were showing him.

"No! How dare you!", viciously snapped Leni, surprising everyone, even Tetherby. "How dare you hire mercs to kidnap our brother! How dare you make us go through the worst two weeks of our lives! And how…. **f-fucking** dare you take us away from our friends and family! You can go rot in hell!"

Her brother and sisters were shocked by the sixteen year old's outburst. Leni rarely, if ever, curses. If she's cursing, then you know she's very upset and angry.

" **You...unrefined...undisciplined...miscreant maggot of a child!"** , yelled Tetherby, his pudgy face becoming red with anger. **"Do you know who you're even dealing with!?"**

"A fat man in dire need of a gym membership?", quipped Luan, causing her siblings to start snickering and giggling.

"Luan, be reasonable. Some things in life are just simply impossible.", commented Lisa, making the comedian guffaw and high-five the prodigy.

" **NO! I'm the man that will turn your insignificant lives into something more useful! Something the world has never seen! Something the world will thank me, Lord Tetherby, for!"**

The portly man's words caught the Loud children off guard.

"What...do you mean by 'more useful'?, asked Lori, not at all liking the dreadful feeling that was rolling through her stomach.

Tetherby's response to her question was a smile so devoid of compassion and…. _humanity_ that it downright scared Lisa, Lola, Lana and Lucy to their core. Protective instincts blaring, Lincoln pulled his younger siblings behind him while his older sisters stood in front, protecting him as well.

"L-Lincoln, what does he mean by that?", Lucy whispered, clinging to Lincoln's back and her monotone cracking as she shook like a leaf in fear. Her younger sisters feeling the same way as they, too, clung to their only big brother.

"I...I don't know. But, I don't like it one bit", replied the eleven year old, fearing what might happen next.

 _And fear it, he should._

Without saying a word, Tetherby snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the door at the front of the room slid open with smooth hiss. Marching into the room were several guards, eighteen men dressed like a SWAT team that lined in a three-wide six-deep formation. Walking through the middle of the formation and standing next to the hologram of Tetherby was bald middle aged man wearing a lab coat, the lower part of his face and mouth covered with wrappings.

" **Children, meet Dr. Darrell Singed, my head scientist of the EVO Program. He and his team will be the ones to oversee your initiation, preparation and implementation of the various projects that I have in store for you. I would ask that you do not resist and give us your full cooperation, but….."** , announced Tetherby before having himself laugh, completely at the expense of the now terrified Loud children. **"Hohoho….Oh, who am I kidding? Struggle all you want. It's not like you have a choice in the matter."**

"EVO Program? Projects!? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GOING TO DO TO US!?", screamed Lori, feeling very much like a cornered mouse that was unable to escape the hungry cat. A feeling shared by her brother and sisters.

" **Many things, dear child. Many things."** , the hologram responded before turning to the bald scientist. **"Dr. Singed...you may begin."**

With order given, the hologram of Tetherby blinked out of existence. And with his departure…

… _life as the Loud siblings knew and cherished ended._

"Apprehend and take them to Processing. Then prep them for Selection.", Dr. Singed ordered before turning on his heel and walking out of the room, the guards breaking formation and closing in on the Louds.

"LIKE HELL I'LL LET YOU!", Lynn exclaimed as she attacked the nearest guard with a kick to the groin. Unfortunately, for her, the man seemed to know she would attack there because before her foot reached it's destination, he grabbed her by the ankle and gave a hard pull, causing the sporty Loud to lose her balance and fall on her back. Before any of her siblings could help her, another guard grabbed her other ankle and the two began dragging her out of the room, the thirteen year old literally kicking and screaming.

"No! Let her go, you damn creep!", Luan yelled as she left the protective huddle to save her younger sister.

"Luan, no!", screamed Lori, but it was too late. Before she even got halfway, a guard grabbed her by her ponytail, causing her to yanked backwards into the waiting arms of two more guards. The comedian struggled valiantly, but could only scream in fear and defiance as she was hauled out of the room.

At that point, the rest of the Louds followed suit, more or less.

Lori and Luna struggled the most violently. It took three guards each to finally restrain the eldest Loud and the rockstar Loud and get them out of the room. Leni, who was never much of a fighter, was literally carried out on the shoulders of one guard. After that, two guards took Lincoln while one guard each carried Lucy, Lana, Lola and Lisa. As he was pushed along, Lincoln took the time to glance at his new surroundings. Everything looked like it came out a sci-fi movie. Large, tube-shaped hallways. More futuristic 'doors'. More scientists and guards going to and fro, completely unmoved by the fact that there were children being taken against their will. All which of this furthering confusing the young boy as to where exactly were they, but put that question in the back of his mind as more pressing matters begged for his attention.

Mainly, how the siblings had now arrived at what they had assumed was 'Processing'. This room looked more like a large department store than an actual room, with different sections of the room fulfilling a different role. Their guards dragged the Loud siblings to one section of the room, where it looked like a large communal shower. The two guards hauled Lincoln to one of the stalls while the others took his sisters to another. Stumbling in, Lincoln turned his fearful eyes back toward the guards.

"Strip.", the one of them grunted with his arms crossed as the other grabbed what appeared to be a somewhat large hose.

Lincoln's eyes widened. He remembered what this was from his time with the mercs. Somewhere in another stall, yells of protest and anger were heard. The Man with the Plan could only guess that his sisters were just ordered to do the same thing. Recalling the last time he was punished for not doing as he was told, Lincoln could only give his guards a tearful glare before he started taking his clothes off. Once fully disrobed and covering his manhood, the snow-haired boy turned his back toward them and put his hands on the wall, closing his eyes and bracing himself.

' _Could this get any worse?'_ , Lincoln thought in despair.

As the stinging sensation of the frigid water splashed against his back, the sole Loud brother let his tears fall as the humiliating screams and cries of his sisters rang throughout the section.

* * *

 **Author's Notes: And so it begins. Lincoln gets a strange dream and the Loud siblings are about to have their radically changed. Forever. Stay tuned to see what happens next.**

 **Like the chapter? Leave a review!**

 **Catch ya later!**


	7. Chosen

**The Loud Awakening**

 **Chapter 6: Chosen**

 **Hey, ladies and gents! Hope you had a gut-busting Thanksgiving.(And if you didn't celebrate it, that's okay too. I don't judge.)**

 **That Engineer: See, I wouldn't have known since I've never watched Generator Rex. And yeah, that chapter was on the shorter side. Rest assured, I do want my chapters to be at least over 2,500 words. Funny thing is,** _ **Fall Together**_ **was originally going to be one REALLY long chapter, but I cut it up into 3 parts instead because I was worried I might burn myself out doing that. In hindsight , I think that was a good call.**

 **364wii: Not quite. Stay tuned to find out more. ;D**

 **DreadedCandiru2: Wow, you really want to see the climax of this story, huh? In time, my good reader. In time.**

 **Now, read onwards!**

 **I don't own The Loud House. Just this fan-made version.**

* * *

There were many things Lord Tetherby considered his pride and joy.

One was his main breadwinner, Tetherby Industries.

Another, though kept in secrecy, was the Tetherby Weapons and Defense Department, or T.W.D.D for short.

Located deep within the more secluded areas of Colorado, the T.W.D.D is a massive underground weapons and research facility built underneath the highest peak in the Rocky Mountains, Mount Elbert. It is here where Tetherby participates in more... _unsavory_ ventures in business. Biological weapons, advanced robotic weaponry, human experimentation and all the like. All of which happen inside the T.W.D.D. Of course, government actions would've put a stop to this, but when you're as wealthy as Tetherby is, you find out how powerful money is when more than a few politicians and lobbyists are willing to put in a good word and make others turn a blind eye to your actions.

' _Especially when it involves performing extensive experimentation and testing on children with spheres of unknown origin and power.',_ Tetherby thought to himself as he walked the hallways, scientists and guards moving out of his way in respect.

Reaching his destination, the doors hissed open and the portly man entered the Main Research Center, a large arena-like state-of-the-art laboratory. There, he saw Dr. Singed directing and ordering other scientists and guards on their roles, such as calibrating the sensors, arranging the frequency dishes, booting up the supercomputers for incoming data and all the like as they prepared for the arrival of the test subjects. Sitting on a tray, off to the side of the lab were the ten mysterious Orbs, glowing dully as they sat.

"Dr. Singed.", Tetherby called out just as the head scientist gave duties to the last of his assistants. "I trust everything is ready for our 'guests'?"

"All is ready to begin, Mr. Tetherby", the bald man answered, professionally. "As soon as all of the test subjects are here, we will begin."

"Good.", the portly man said with an arrogant smile as he walked over to the tray and picked one of the orbs, examining the Light Orb. "I, personally, want to see if we've finally found what I have been looking for."

"As do I. Though, I'm quite curious about something else.", Dr. Singed commented, putting his hands behind his back.

"Oh? And what might that be?"

"These children you've recommended. Why them in particular?"

Tetherby raised an eyebrow as he turned his head toward the scientist, putting the goldish-white sphere back down onto the tray.

"Are you having second thoughts about all of this, doctor?", he questioned, weary and suspicious.

"Of course not, Mr. Tetherby. I merely asked because I wish to sate this curiosity." smoothly replied Dr. Singed.

Tetherby chuckled to himself, feeling silly to doubt his head scientist.

"Tell me, doctor. Do you believe in limits?"

"Absolutely not."

"And why not?"

"Because to limit one's self is to be blind. Blind to the possibilities of how far one can go, how high one can jump, how deep one can dig and how much one can endure. To have limits is to never improve. To never attain a higher state, whether it be physical or mental. To never have the one answer that could potentially solve everything. Limits….are the enemies of progress.", spoke the bald man, a bit of passion creeping into his voice.

"And morals.", continued Tetherby. "Would you consider them to be limits, as well?"

"Even more so, Mr. Tetherby. Morals are the bane of progress, halting humanity in it's quest to a higher plane of enlightenment and understanding. Who cares if it's wrong? Who cares if it's unethical? All that matters are the answers we find in such actions. If I am to be called a Machiavellian bastard, then so be it. Progress won't be stopped by the tears of those who fail to understand."

"And that's why I signed you on for this, Dr. Singed. You don't let weak barriers such as morals and ethics get in the way of your goal. If you see it and it's within your reach, you do everything in your power to get it. You, good doctor, are as amoral as you are brilliant. That's why I know, even though this is program involves kids as young as four, you won't bat an eye to what we're about to do. So, to answer your question, the reason why I picked the Loud children is simple, really. I just don't like them. From the way they dress to how they carry themselves, they are an utter eyesore and annoyance wherever they go. I meant it when I said I did their parents a favor by abducting ten of them. So I saw it it fit to bring them here, where their pointless lives will put into infinitely better use than what they could ever do themselves.

"Does that answer your question, doctor?, concluded Tetherby.

The bald scientist took a moment to think about all that he had heard. Tetherby's reasoning was...questionable, to say the least. If Singed were to be honest, it sounded a bit petty. But, in the end, he really didn't care. If using children meant uncovering the secrets of the Orbs and finding out what they truly do, then so be it.

"Yes, it does. Thank you, Mr. Tetherby.", spoke Dr. Singed. Just then, the doors to the lab slid open, followed by sounds of protest. "Ah, the test subjects are here. We can finally begin. Everyone, to your places!"

As Dr. Singed went to make sure everything was ready, an ill-intent grin showed up on Lord tetherby's face.

" _Excellent."_

* * *

Dragged through the doors by their handlers, the Loud siblings found themselves in a strange stadium shaped research lab of some kind. However, they didn't have time to look at their surroundings before they were brought to the center of the room. Once there, the guards made them get on their knees, some had to kick a few of the kids in the back of their legs to do so, and then handcuffing their hands around their back before standing behind them.

Having just gone through Processing, the Loud children all now wore the same outfit: A plain white long sleeve shirt with white cotton sweatpants, for each of their age and size. The older girls, from Lori to Lynn, were given no bra and all the girls had no panties underneath their sweats. Luan, Lynn and Lana also no longer had their hair scrunchies or bands, meaning their hair was completely free. Part of Luan's shoulder-lengthed hair covered one of her eyes and Lynn's went down to the middle of her back. Lana now looked exactly like Lola, with the sole exception being the tomboy's hair was slightly shorter than her twin's.

Leni, Luan, Lucy, the twins and Lisa silently cried with their heads down. Lori, Luna and Lynn, while crying as well, gritted their teeth to show their rage and displeasure as they, too, held their heads down. Lincoln, having since shed his tears back in Processing, slowly lifted his head to see. The white-haired boy's eyes widened from what, or rather _whom_ , he saw.

There, sitting in a comfortable chair next to a tray that had ten weird looking globes, was…

"Tetherby…", Lincoln uttered in a low hiss of boiling anger. Hearing their brother speak the hated name, the sisters shot their head up, only to confirm that the portly rich man was, indeed, sitting a few yards away from them. With the most smug, arrogant, shit-eating grin they have ever seen.

"YOU MOTHERFUC-", Lynn roared as she immediately tried to get to her feet to go for Tetherby, but was promptly pacified by a punch to the stomach by one of the guards behind her.

"Lynn!", her siblings cried out to her in worry as the jock went back down onto her knees, coughing and wheezing.

"Control yourself, child. As you can see, you are in no position to do much of anything.", spoke Tetherby, condescendingly.

"Tetherby, just what the hell is all of this!?", Lori demanded through gritted teeth.

"In a moment, you will have your answer.", the portly man replied just as Dr. Singed stood beside him. "Are we ready?"

"On your word, Mr. Tetherby."

"Then, you may begin."

The bald scientist nodded before turning to announce the room.

"Ladies and gentleman, the EVO Program is now officially underway. We shall now commence with the Orb Harmonization Process."

Upon hearing those words, the Loud siblings looked at each other for comfort and reassurance, shaking and scared out of their mind over what was about to happen to them.

"Now, I recommend we start with the oldest first. That way, we can more accurately-"

"No. Lincoln first."

Lincoln, along with his sisters, felt their heart drop into their stomach from the rich fatty's words.

Singed turned his gaze to Tetherby, who had interrupted him, with a raised eyebrow.

"The boy?"

"Yes. Start with him. Then move on to the girls.", the fat man proclaimed. In his mind, Lincoln was the one who started the limo debacle, so it was only fitting for the eleven year old to be the first to start the Orb Harmonization Process.

The head scientist looked at Tetherby for a moment before shrugging and turning to the guards that stood behind Lincoln. "Bring him. Front and center."

Given their orders, the two guards grabbed the boy by his restrained arms and began dragging him toward Tetherby and Dr. Singed.

"Lincoln, no!", his sisters shouted in distress, their guards keeping them from going anywhere as they could do nothing except watch as their only brother was picked first.

As the guards rested Lincoln in center, now a few feet away from Tetherby and Dr. Singed, something unexpected happened.

 _One of the Orbs reacted._

 **The Light Orb was glowing more brightly than the others.**

"Dr. Singed!", one of the other scientists called out as their supercomputers and other machines began gathering incoming data and information, making a series of electronic noises in the process. "The Light Orb! It's-"

"Reacting.", the head scientist finished, giving the glowing sphere a contemplative look before turning his gaze to Lincoln and his sisters.

' _Could these children hold the key to finally unlocking the secrets these Orbs hold?'_ , he thought to himself. _'There's only one way to find out…'_

Tetherby had a calm and calculating face as he looked between the shining Light Orb and Lincoln. At least, on the outside. Inside, however, he was laughing up a storm. Who would've thought that kidnapping ten lousy brats that he despised would be the answer to the annoying orb frequency problem. The rich man certainly didn't expect this to happen, but he wasn't gonna complain. If anything, this was an added bonus to the _plans_ he had in mind.

As all of this was happening, Lincoln stared at the mysterious glowing globe and was overcome by a strange feeling.

A feeling that he and this 'Light Orb' they were talking about were….

 _Connected._

" _ **What be it dost thou protect?"**_

Lincoln gave a grunt of pain as the voice of the knight from his dream boomed in his head, giving him a headache. At the same time, the machines and equipment around the lab began to whirr and blare loudly.

"What's going on!?", shouted Dr. Singed, looking to his fellow colleagues for answers.

"It's Light Orb, sir!", one scientist answered as he sat in front of a computer. "We're getting a massive spikes of energy coming from it!"

"The Orb's frequency wavelength has also changed!", said another, this one a woman checking a sensory machine. "It currently syncing itself to the child's wavelength!"

All the while, Lincoln continued to grunt and squirm in ever-growing discomfort as the voice boomed in his head once more.

" _ **What be it dost thou protect?"**_

"Lincoln! Dudes, what's wrong with him!?", yelled Luna, beside herself with worry as she watched her brother writhe in agony.

"I...I don't know! I don't know and I **hate** not knowing!", Lisa responded, crying as she was helpless to aid her older male sibling.

"Please, let me go to him!", cried Leni, begging to the guards who were restraining her. "He's in pain! Please, let me help him!"

Her sisters made similar begs and pleas to the guards, all wanting to be there for Lincoln. Alas, their insisting fell on deaf ears as the guards gave no response.

" _ **What be it dost thou protect?"**_

The Light Orb, to everyone's shock and surprise, gave another unexpected reaction.

 _It levitated off of the tray and began floating over to Lincoln, glowing even brighter! Small cracks began to appear on the sphere, shining light leaking through them!_

"Doctor, what is happening to the Orb!?", Tetherby exclaimed, rising off of his chair.

"I have no clue, Mr. Tetherby. This is as much of a first to me as it is to you. I suggest we wait and see what happens.", calmly replied Dr. Singed, watching with narrowed eyes.

At this point, Lincoln had curled into himself with his head planted forehead first to the cold, hard floor.

His breath, heavy and panting.

His heart, chest-pounding and racing.

His body, sweating and shaking.

It felt as if his entire being, right down to his very soul, was about to explode.

' _I…'_ , thought Lincoln as he looked up in agony, seeing the Orb now floating in front of him as more cracks appeared on it's surface. _'I...I don't know! What's happening to me!? What am I supposed to protect!?'_

" _ **Look within thyself, young one. There, on eve of the dire hour…"**_

The Light Orb, with a million shining cracks, began shake violently.

" _ **...thou will have thy answer."**_

What happened next was nothing short of extraordinary.

Lincoln threw his head toward the ceiling and screamed as he felt something within him snap. At the same time, the Light Orb exploded in a spectacular shower of shining light, causing everyone to temporarily shield their eyes lest they go blind as the goldish-white energy within grew and manifested itself like a space nebula cloud. Then, streaks of the light energy surged toward the eleven year old. The sisters screamed in panic and despair as everyone saw two streaks entered through his eyes, one went into his mouth, effectively cutting off his screaming, and another entered by phasing into his chest. As the light energy made it's way into his body, Lincoln began levitating off the ground as he felt the energy merge with his very soul.

Molding him.

Changing him.

Making him become something not human.

Something…. **more** than human.

A few minutes later, once all of the light energy had settled within the snow-haired boy, Lincoln slowly floated back down to the ground, unmoving as he laid face down. All was silent as everyone in the lab took time to process on what just happened.

"L-Lincoln?", meekly uttered Lori, calling out to her only brother.

He gave no response.

"Lincoln...get up. Please…", whispered a tearful Lucy, the sight of her big brother's still body on the ground scaring her more than any horror story could ever achieve.

"Get up, Lincoln! For god's sake, please get up!", wailed a distraught Luan, trying with all of her heart to will her brother to rise.

But still, he laid. Still as a grave.

"LINCOLN!", cried the twins, desperately hoping to wake him. "PLEASE GET UP!"

"Not like this….Oh god, not like this…", said Lynn as tears of sorrow flowed down her face. A sentiment shared by her older sisters Luna and Leni as they were too drowned in their own tears to call out to him.

"An unfortunate outcome….The one time I wish I was wrong…", muttered a crying Lisa as she held her head low.

Being the first to recover from the shock of what happened, Dr. Singed approached the young boy, knelt down and placed two fingers on the boy's neck.

He nodded to himself as he found a pulse.

"Guards.", called out the head scientist, startling the henchmen out of their stunned stupor. "Take him down to Containment. Sector Alpha. I feel his development will need my personal attention."

Heeding their orders, the two guards retrieved the boy and dragged him out of the lab. By this time, Tetherby had recovered from his shock as well….and smiled.

"Ha….hahahaha...HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!", the portly man guffawed, nearly falling out of his chair in laughter. The Loud sisters turned to the man, their eyes filling with rage and hatred as the man would have the audacity of laughing over the expense of their suffering.

"What...is so goddamn FUNNY!?", roared Lori, her guards holding her back as she voiced her anger.

"Haha...Oh, hoho...Oh, it's...heh...it's nothing.", Tetherby replied as he calmed down. "It's just...this is turning out to be more than I expected. Better than I expected, dare I say."

"And what exactly were you expecting?", snarled Luna with gritted teeth.

"If I'm being honest….I expected you to die."

Tetherby could've been talking about the weather with the casual tone he just used. Needless to say, the girls were floored by this man's complete lack of humanity.

"You….unbelieveable son of a bitch…"uttered Lynn.

"Hmph, the mouth on this one. Since you're so eager to speak your thoughts, I guess you can go next.", stated Tetherby as he snapped his fingers.

"Wait, what!?", shouted the thirteen year old as the guards picked her up and dragged her forward, despite the pleas and protests of herself and her sisters. "No! Let me go! I don't want it! Whatever it is, I don't want it!"

"Oh, sweetie. You don't have to 'want' anything. It's not your choice to make. After all, when this is all said and done...", the portly man said with a cruel smile as he noticed another one of the Orbs began to glow brightly.

 **The Ember Orb.**

" _...unbelieveable will be a forgotten term!"_

* * *

 **Author's Notes: And done! Finally! Procrastination and writer's block can be a bitch of a combination.**

 **At any rate, Lincoln has absorbed the Light Orb and it looks like the Ember Orb has taken a liking to Lynn. Which orbs do you think the sisters will get? The prologue should give you a clue for a few of the girls.**

 **As always, tell me how you feel with a review.**

 **Catch ya later!**


	8. Human, No More

**The Loud Awakening**

 **Chapter 7: Human, No More**

 **Me: Oh, look at all of these views! You like me! You really, really like me!**

 **Inner Me: Good lord, dude! You're getting cringey, stop it!**

 **That Engineer: While you are re-reading, here's a clue: Dr. Singed is a reference to a character from a popular computer game. I even gave a dead giveaway when I first talked about his appearance. I'm surprised none of you guys got it yet.**

 **Gamelover41592: Pffffft, you thought that was torture? Bro, I haven't even gotten to the fucked up part yet! XD**

 **DreadedCandiru2: Replace soldier with knight and you're right on the money. Also, Pyro will be a lump of coal compared to what Lynn is gonna be. As for the weird Lana/Terra Orb matching, I based it around, not on the color scheme, but on Lana's love of all things dirt. And since we already have enough blues to go around with the Arcane and Ocean Orbs, I thought changing things up would be a good idea.**

 **364wii: Duh. Everyone knows that. Well, everyone except Tetherby.**

 **TheFreezerStreets: Epic things come to those who wait. There will be fight scenes, but I still want to tell a story. Patience, dear reader.**

 **Keeper of Worlds: Nice observation, though the Wood element is absent in this story. However, that's not to say it won't show up somewhere else….or** _ **someone else.**_

 **Now onto the story!**

 **I own The Loud Awakening. Not The Loud House.**

* * *

"Mmm...mmmmrrrugh…", stirred Lincoln as he awoke from his dreamless slumber. As he stared into the large ceiling light, he thought of how strange is was to have a light fixture this big in his room.

Then he remembered…

 _He wasn't in his room._

Eyes widening as recent memories began flooding through his mind, Lincoln shot upright and frantically took in his new surroundings. Currently, he was lying on a small bed in the center of what appeared to be a large glass dome. Outside the dome, he saw scientists going about their duties on computers and other machines, so he assumed he was in another lab.

"What has happened to me?", Lincoln said to himself, standing up from the bed and looking at his hands as he recalled the last thing he saw before waking up. Then he blinked and raised an eyebrow as he heard himself. His voice sounded different. He still sounded like his eleven year old self, yet, at the same time, he sounded more...old-fashioned. **Very** old fashioned. Ye Olde, even.

"You have become one with the Light Orb, young man."

The eleven year old did a rapid 180 and saw Dr. Singed, outside of the dome and standing with a clipboard in his hands.

"What?", Lincoln spoke, narrowing his eyes in confusion and anger as he made his way around the bed and toward Singed. "What dost thou mean? What hath thou done to me!?" Again, Lincoln was rather stumped by his new line of speech. Why was he talking like this?

"Hmmm, intriguing. Your speech pattern has changed to a more archaic version.", commented the head scientist, ignoring the question as he jotted down on his clipboard. "Tell me, were you speaking this way before or after the Light Orb merged with you?"

"Thou will hear naught a word from me until thou answer my question! Now, what hath thou done to me!?", demanded the snow-haired boy, unaware that his eyes and clenched fists started glowing light gold.

' _Ahhh, his new powers are already showing up. Seems to react depending on his emotional state. Will have to look further into that later.'_ , Dr. Singed thought before replying. "As I said before, the Light Orb has merged with you. Look at your hands and see for yourself."

The eleven year did, indeed, turned to his hands and was startled to see them glowing.

"Wha-...You…..How did…", the boy stammered as he tried to wrapped his head around on what was happening to him.

"The glow can also be seen in your eyes, as well", the head scientist continued, uncaring of Lincoln's plight. "I must say, your harmonization was quite the eye-opening spectacle. Though, compared to your siblings, it was relatively tame."

Upon hearing that statement, Lincoln quickly shot his gaze back to the bald man.

 _His sisters..._

"What happened to them!?", yelled Lincoln, slamming his glowing palms against the thick glass of his domed prison in desperation and concern . "Tell me! Please tell me their alright!"

"Calm down, young man. I assure you, your sisters are in good health…"

Lincoln closed eyes as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"... _to a degree._ "

Those words caused the boy's heart to lurch as his eyes cracked open again.

"You see, my dear boy…", Dr. Singed explained as he pulled out a small remote from his coat pocket and pressing a button. "Your sisters' harmonization was radically different from yours."

Hearing a quiet hiss behind him, Lincoln turned around to see a hatch opening from the ceiling and a mechanical arm holding a T.V screen being lowered in front of him as Singed continued to speak.

"The difference is due to one critical aspect…."

As he watched the screen come to life, Lincoln felt a icy lump of dread formed at the bottom of his stomach.

It told him how he was not going to enjoy what he was about to see.

" _Unlike you, their physical appearance changed."_

Appearing on the screen was a slightly discolored image of a laboratory that looked almost exactly like the one Lincoln found himself in. Centered at the top of the screen was a title that read, ' _ **Sector: Zeta**_ '. As he watched the scientists going about their work, he assumed he was watching through a security camera. And like the lab he awoke in, this one had a large heat-tempered glass dome in the center of the room as well.

However, what caught Lincoln's full attention was the occupant in said dome. Just as he tried to get a better look, the screen switched to a different camera, this time showing the occupant at a better angle for Lincoln to see.

Lincoln's eyes widened and his pupils shrank as he audibly gasped.

 _It was Lynn. Sitting in a tight fetal ball, her face hidden from sight._

 _Naked…._ _ **and on fire.**_

"MY GOD, NO! LYNN!", Lincoln screamed, horrified as he rushed up and put his glowing hands on the monitor, wishing with all of his being that he could go through the screen so he could save his beloved older sister. With tears filling and falling from his eyes, Lincoln whipped his head back toward Dr. Singed. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?"

"Me? Nothing.", the bald man casually replied. "And before you accuse me any further, I suggest you give your sister another look."

As much as the image of Lynn burning pained him, Lincoln did, indeed, turned his attention back toward the monitor. There, as he stared into the screen, he finally noticed.

The flames, even though they were engulfing Lynn, didn't seem to cause her any harm. In fact, from what Lincoln could observe, her skin was without a single trace of a burn. And that's not all all he observed. Her arms and legs, from her hands and feet all the way up to her shoulders and upper thighs, were covered by what appeared to be red….. _reptilian scales?_ Her hands and feet ended with, not fingernails, but sharp-looking claws. Giving a glance toward her head, the boy saw oddly shaped scaly fins where Lynn's ears were supposed to be. Finally, Lincoln moved his gaze toward the jock's lower back, only to find a long lizard-like tail sprouting out from where her tailbone is, just above the crack of her butt. From the stump to the tip, fire traced along the top part of the tail, yet, again, the flames seemed to do no harm to her.

"Wha…..Lynn, what on earth…?", Lincoln muttered, spooked and **very** much confused from what he was seeing.

"Her new physical appearance is a direct result of her merging with the Ember Orb.", Dr. Singed explained before pressing another button on the remote. "And she is not the only one."

Lynn's image shrunk and was put into a corner of the monitor before eight other images began popping up on the screen.

And each image only deepened Lincoln's shock and horror.

In the image that read ' _ **Sector: Omega**_ ', he witnessed a very changed, and equally naked, Lori being held in her large glass dome, only this one was reinforced with thick titanium bars. The eldest Loud, like Lynn, had reptilian scales that covered all of her arms and legs, as well as having odd fins in place for ears and a tail. However, that's where the similarities ended. The first notably difference was, while Lynn's scales were red, Lori's was sky blue. Her scaly hands and feet were large and came with sharp claws that looking like they could slash and rip through solid stone and steel. Her tail was also larger, a bit thicker and ended with curved and serrated tip. Lori also now had a pair slender sky blue horns hat poked out of her blonde hair. Finally, sprouting out from her back were two large scaly wings. Currently, Lori had chains that were shackled to her neck, wrists, ankles and tail, keeping her in place as she bitterly tried to break free of her bindings, all while showing her now razor sharp teeth and her blue reptilian slit eyes as she cried.

In the ' _ **Sector: Gamma**_ ' camera, the lab was slightly different. Instead of there being a large glass dome like Lincoln's, there was a huge aquarium-like tanker that was filled with water. It was here, floating through the water as if she were in space, where Lincoln saw an unconscious Leni, who thankfully still had her clothes on. Like Lynn and Lori, she too had limb-covering scales. However, Leni's were aquamarine in color and looked more sleek and streamlined, more suited for an aquatic fish than a terrestrial lizard. Her slender arms and hands, albeit covered in scales, were largely untouched and still looked human. The same couldn't be said for her lower extremities, sadly. While her legs were relatively human, her feet had transformed into sleek flippers. Like Lynn and Lori, she also had a tail, this one long, slender and ending with a large flipper. She now had elf-like ears and four aquamarine horns sprouting out of the top and sides of her head.

The ' _ **Sector: Beta**_ ' image showed clothed Luna sitting with her head between her legs in a corner of her domed cell. From what Lincoln could see, she had brown fur covering her arms and legs, brown weasel-like ears coming out of the top of her head and a long bushy tail coming from her lower back. Something the eleven year old also noticed was the fact that he could small purple electrical sparks coming off of various parts of her body. He had no clue as to what was causing her to do that.

' _ **Sector: Kappa**_ ' revealed a lab that, like Leni's, had a different holding cell. This one was a glass dome, only larger and with drastically more vertical space, similar to a aviary. Here, the boy saw his comedic sister Luan trying and failing to get used to her new form, which consisted of having large yellow feathered wings for arms, elfin ears, bird-like legs and feet with sharp talons. From the look of hopeless defeat and tears that fell down her face, she wasn't going to get over this anytime soon.

In the camera showing ' _ **Sector: Delta**_ ', however…

"What...what be this before my eyes?", Lincoln hesitantly asked Dr. Singed without turning around, very unsure as to what what he was looking at completely afraid as to which of his sisters was in this particular cell. Said cell was, again, a glass dome. Only this one held a sheer black void that was impossible to see through.

"Ah, Sector Delta. I believe one of your younger sisters resides in that cell. Lucy, to be specific.", answered the head scientist. "It would seem she has still yet to recover from the shock of seeing her new appearance. From what I have gathered, as soon as she woke up and saw what she had become, she screamed and released a torrent of black mist from her body that became the dark void that you see now. So far, none of our advanced optics can see through it. Infrared, x-ray, thermal, everything yet we still see nothing. A complete cut-off area devoid of light and sight. Quite impressive for her to do that when she had just recently harmonized with the Nerg Orb."

Lincoln, however, had tuned Singed out as he stared into the void that was Lucy's holding cell, filled with worry and concern. What could Lucy possibly look like now if it warranted this kind of reaction? He didn't know….and it irked him to no end not knowing, along with not being there to comfort his little goth of a sister.

The images showing both ' _ **Sector: Theta**_ ' and ' _ **Sector: Iota**_ ' were similar, with Lana and Lola both being held domed cells, both unconscious and lying curled up in their respective beds. However, as was always the case, the twins were always different from each other. This time, it was more so physically. Both had blonde fur covering their arms and legs, which ended with with fur-covered hands and feet with odd little pads on them. However, that's where the similarities end. Lola's fur looked more sleek and soft. The blonde ears on the top of her head were cat-like in appearance and two long slender tails could be seen coming out from her lower back. Lana's fur, on the other hand, was rougher and more unkempt, giving her a wild look. Her ears, while similar to her twin, were more pointed and she had long bushy tail sprouting out of her lower back as well. Similar to what he saw with Luna, Lincoln could see a small patches of ice forming around Lola while the ground around Lana seemed to be vibrating. Again, he had no answer as to how the twins were doing that.

Lastly, in the image that read ' _ **Sector: Lambda**_ ', Lincoln surveyed one of his youngest sisters as she laid motionless on the bed of her holding cell. Out of all of his sisters he had seen so far, Lisa looked the most normal. No scales, no fur, no feathers, no fins, no tail, no weird ears or oddly placed ears, none of those aspects showed on Lisa's body.

She looked completely human….

….until he saw her half-lidded eyes.

Her brown eyes were replaced by solid green with no pupils. Even stranger was that her eyes were glowing. First they would dim, then brighten, dim again and then brighten again. Somewhat akin to how a electronic device would act if it was on standby. Also, it may have been the camera tricking his eyes, but Lincoln swore it looked as if Lisa's brown hair was made from stainless steel from the way the light was shining off of it.

Tears silently streamed down Lincoln's face as he watched his captive sisters, hoping and wishing that all of this was a nightmare and that he would wake up and find himself back home in his bed. Yet, despite his efforts, he was forced to accept that this hellhole that he and his sisters were in was all too real. The boy slowly drew his gaze away from the monitor and look down to his glowing hands, watching his tears fall into his palms.

"What...hath thou done?", Lincoln choked out, falling to his knees as he was racked with despair. "What...hath thou made us….. _become!?_ "

As the young boy wept into his hands, Singed simply and coldly gave his reply.

" _Not human."_

* * *

 **Author's Notes: There! It's finished! God, this was a pain to get out of me! For the longest time, I was stuck and had writer's block for nearly 3 WEEKS! Honestly, I felt that I could've added more, but I didn't want run the risk of having another writer's block and having to go through December with only 1 chapter to show for it.**

 **Anyway, there you have it. The Loud Siblings have obtained their Orbs and aren't exactly thrilled about it, the girls especially.**

 **Any of you care to take a guess as to what the girls are now? Excluding Lucy, since her new appearance is, for now, a mystery. A mystery that I know and you will have to read on if you want to find out. XP**

 **As always, let me know what you think of my story with a review. I'm thinking of doing something different next chapter. A time skip, possibly….maybe.**

 **Catch ya later! Happy Holidays and have a Merry Christmas, everyone!**


	9. Survive(Part 1)

**The Loud Awakening**

 **Chapter 8: Survive(Part 1)**

 **Well, seems like everyone enjoyed chapter 7, which is surprising. Personally, I felt like that was my worst writing yet. Still, nice to see you guys loving my story and I will continue to improve and provide for you, I swear.**

 **Keeper of Worlds and skyike: Yeah, sorry about making some of the girls' appearances a bit hard to figure out. I'll do a better job at describing and elaborating certains things. So, in case it wasn't clear enough, Leni is a nereid/sahuagin mix, Lana is a werewolf and I have Lisa being a combination of a Murakumo Unit from** _ **BlazBlue**_ **and a Gundam mech. Also, Luan more than just a harpy. Here's a hint: giant bird of Middle Eastern myth.**

 **TheFreezerStreets: All in due time. Tetherby and friends WILL get what's coming to them. Patience.**

 **DreadedCandiru2: I know, right? It's not like she would eventually learn to- Whoop! Almost spilled the beans on that one! Anywho, just keep reading. You might be in for a surprise.**

 **Hey, gamerlover41592! Remember when I said that we haven't gotten to the fucked up part yet? Well…...it's coming up soon!**

 **Me no own Loud House!**

* * *

 _One month later..._

 _Top Floor of T.W.D.D, Main Office, 2:00 P.M._

"I assure you, General Esker. What I have to offer is, by no means, fantasy bullshit. In a year's time, I will prove that to you.", Lord Tetherby spoke into the phone in his lavish office.

" **I'll eat my three stars if you do manage."** , a deep voice growled back in reply from the phone. **"I've seen a lot of shit that would make a lesser man cry in cowardice. Chemical gas that can make your organs explode like they were water balloons. Biological weapons that can turn a man into a walking abomination of rage and blood. But supernatural agents? You think I'm some snot-nosed brat who was born yesterday?"**

"You're everything but the sort, my good sir. Like I said, I'll be able to back my claim when the time comes.", the portly man continued before hearing a knock coming from the front of his office. Looking up, he saw his double office door open and Dr. Singed stepping inside with a small briefcase. Upon seeing the head scientist, Tetherby motioned the man to take a seat in front of his desk before turning his attention back to the phone.

" **You'd better. I, as well as others, have little tolerance for wild speculation and goose chases. 'Til then, you know how to reach me, Tetherby."** , the voice on the other end concluded before hanging up.

"I must say, that man really needs to lighten up. Anyway, onto more pressing matters.", commented Tetherby as he put the phone down and turned to Singed. "Alright, doctor. How are things going with our…'guests'?"

"As per your request, my teams and I have collected, sorted and compiled the data and now present, to you, the results of the various tests and experiments that were done on all ten subjects of the EVO Program for the past month.", Dr. Singed began as he opened his briefcase, pulling out ten files and laying them on Tetherby's desk. He slid one across to Tetherby. "First up is the _**'Omega'**_ project. Lori Loud, Codename: _D.R.A.K.E_."

"Aahhh, yes. Our little magic dragon.", Tetherby joked as he opened the file and began reading the contents. "What have you found out? Quite frankly, I'm surprised you managed to calm her down enough to get any useful information out of her."

"We didn't. Though she has gradually calmed down after the first initial days of her Harmonization, Lori is still very much rebellious and hostile towards myself and the staff. As such, anytime we wanted to evaluate her, we had to properly sedate her first. Which proved to be quite challenging when you consider that 60% percent of her body is covered in scales that are stronger than steel, titanium, tungsten and inconel combined."

"Really, now?", inputted Tetherby with raised eyebrows, awed and ever the more curious as he continued reading the files.

"That's not all we've found.", Singed proceeded. "Though not nearly as durable as her scales, Lori's skin has shown vastly significant improvement in resilience as well. You could fire a shotgun point-blank into her chest and the worst she'll get from that is minor scrape. Her height has also changed. Before her Harmonization, she stood around 5 feet, 11 inches. After absorbing the Arcane Orb, however, she gained a considerable growth spurt and now stands at an Amazonian 7 feet, flat. There are other physical aspects that have changed on her as well, such as her strength, speed and senses. But the findings that I'm sure you're most interested in are her powers. It's only been a month, so it's still too early to solidify anything, but the Arcane Orb seemed to have blessed her with...well, magical abilities. Our sensors indicate that the energy she emits is unknown in origin. We've also discovered strange runes carved into her scales, as well. Again, it's early and we still have much to find out. But, with time, we'll have our answers."

Tetherby nodded with a giddy grin as he read over Lori's results, very much liking what he is seeing. "A month in already and this is just the eldest.", he said. "Tell me of the others."

Over the course of the next hour, Singed gave Tetherby the rest of the files and explained his findings and results from the rest of the Loud children the were experimented on for that month.

Leni, codenamed _A.B.Y.S.S.A.L_ , was now able to breath underwater, as well as being able to swim at incredible speeds and having the ability to create and control water. She was also able, to the surprise of Singed and his team, to morph her flippers into human-looking feet so she can traverse on land. Like Lori, she also had substantial growth spurt, going from 5 feet, 9 inches to 6 feet, 10 inches tall.

Luna, codenamed _R.A.I.J.U_ , had shown the ability to create and manipulate electricity, including lightning. She could even become pure lightning. Out of all of the tests done on the subjects, it was proven that Luna was the fastest among them. As well as being able to generate a static field that scrambles electronics and is capable of EMP bursts powerful enough to cause permanent black-outs. Her Harmonization caused sudden growth as well, making her now stand at 6 feet, 6 inches.

Codenamed _R.O.C_ , Luan now had the power of wind, able to control the flow and current of the very air around her, as well as creating wind. Able create powerful wind gusts with a single flap of her wing and can fly up to speeds that would put the world's fastest aircrafts to shame. Like her sisters, the young girl had seen significant growth, now standing at 6 feet flat.

Lynn, who was codenamed _B.L.A.Z.E_ , had shown her growing potential of creating and controlling fire, being able to melt the most heat-resistant of metals and reduce anything to mere ash in seconds. Her highest body temperature is, at the moment, not recorded, but Singed has reason to suspect that, under the right circumstances, she could get as hot as the surface of the sun. Her growth spurt was not as strong as her older sisters, now standing at 5 feet, 5 inches.

Dubbed _T.E.R.R.A_ , Lana revealed her power over earth, controlling the very ground she walked upon. Able to protect herself with walls of stone, fire off shards of sharp rocks and even terraform the very land around her. In a similar vein, Lola, codenamed _C.R.Y.O_ , has shown similar results as her twin, only with her ability to create and manipulate ice. Like Lynn, her lowest body temperature has not been recorded, but Singed theorized that Lola could stand outside in the middle of Antarctica on the coldest day and not be bothered by the frigidly hostile climate.

Lisa, christened _D.E.U.S.-E.X_ , has become, according to Singed, a living technological marvel. Externally, there was little to no change on her actual appearance. Internally, however, it was a different story. Everything, from her brain and organs to her very bones, was cyber-organic. She has also revealed to be able to transform different parts of her body into various tools and weapons, from thrusters and wires to arm-blades and blasters.

However, as the two men went over the various results, Tetherby noticed with a raised eyebrow and frown how two of the ten files weren't as in depth with data and information as the others.

"Seems like Lincoln and Lucy's files aren't showing as much results. Are they not up to snuff with their performances?", the portly man asked.

"Aaah, yes. Projects _**'Alpha'**_ and _**'Delta'**_ , codenamed _D.A.W.N_ and _D.U.S.K_.", began Singed. "It's not that they're not performing well, despite their continued rebellious attempts. It's just they're not performing well…. **on purpose**."

"Really, now?", commented Tetherby as clasped his hands together and leaned forward, keenly listening.

"Yes.", continued the bald scientist. "It became quite obvious during the month of tests that these two subjects in particular are suppressing their powers and deliberately not showing all what they can truly do."

Tetherby scoffed as he leaned back into his comfy chair. Thinking about it, he's wasn't in the least bit surprised. Of course, these brats do not understand implications of what's going on here. They do not see that they are merely tools and stepping stones for something bigger and greater.

"However…", Singed spoke. "There is a way to make Lincoln and Lucy fall in line and cooperate. Though, I warn you, it is a tad….radical."

Tetherby raised a curious eyebrow. "How radical are we talking, Singed?"

"For the past month, we have been only testing and experimenting on our subjects within the safe confines of a laboratory, merely observing their powers and abilities without much practical application. What I suggest is that we use one of the training arenas to perform a field test with Lincoln and Lucy. Also, I have in mind, pending your approval, to use several assets from our other divisions. A few prototypes from Robotics and one of the….. _leftovers_ from Biological."

Tetherby's other eyebrow shot to the ceiling, completing his surprise.

"Oh…..you want to use... **them**."

The portly man knew what the bald scientist wanted to use.

 _The Living Failures_ , he called them.

Tetherby thought long and hard about Singed's proposal. On one hand, performing such a field test when the Loud children were still in the process of discovering and controlling their newfound abilities could prove very counterproductive and causing serious long-term injury to them. Hell, it could outright kill them and he, despite holding a hateful grudge on the siblings, didn't want that to happen. But, on the other hand….

' _We could finally find out what Lincoln and Lucy are truly capable of, as well as seeing a preview of their powers in combat scenarios.'_ , the wealthy business owner thought to himself as a cruel smile appeared. _'Plus, I'll get a kick out of seeing the fear of God be put into these little shits. Maybe then they'll start actually respecting their betters.'_

"You want to test them, Doctor?", Tetherby asked.

Singed responded with a slow, but sure nod.

"Then, by all means….. **test them**."

* * *

 _A few hours later..._

"I suppose 'tis for naught that ye will tell me as to where we are going?", asked Lincoln as he walked down a corridor between two burly guards, handcuffed and blindfolded.

"None of your business, freak. So shut up and keep moving.", responded one guard before giving the eleven year old a shove.

"Alas, figures. Why did I even ask?"

Half a second later, a sharp and stinging pain rang in Lincoln's mind as he was smacked in the back of the head, causing him to stumble in his stride.

"Are you deaf or just plain stupid?", spoke the other guard. "Unless you want to be black and blue by the time we get there, I suggest you shut up."

Wisely keeping several colorful terms to himself, the white haired boy settled with grumbling his frustration as he continued walking.

Lincoln had no idea how long he and his sisters have been in this place, but if he had to guess, he'd say that it has been a month.

And it has been nothing short of nightmarish and tormenting since arrival.

Lincoln had been poked, prodded, stabbed and drugged for the past month as Singed and his scientists experimented on him. It was like Lisa's experiments, only more cruel, heartless and without any sort of comfort or appeal to humanity. With a grieving heavy heart, the boy assumed that, if all of this was happening to him, then there's no doubt in his mind that the same is happening to his sisters right now. What these men and women were trying to find with all of these experiments, Lincoln didn't know but he did suspect that it had something to do with this 'Light Orb' that he absorbed, apparently. Despite not knowing much about his new powers even after a month, Lincoln had tried his best to not let anything be shown to Singed.

' _The less they know, the better. Even if I don't know what's going on.'_ , the Man with the Plan thought to himself. _'And then there are my dreams….'_

For the past month and on an occasion or two, Lincoln has been having this strange recurring dream: him standing in a golden field at the base of hill. On top of that hill, stood a great oak tree...along with a mysterious golden knight standing in front it. These dreams didn't last long, always ending in a blinding flash of white before he woke up and whenever the boy asked the knight about what was happening to him, the armored being always gave vague and cryptic answers. It was only until recently that the knight spoke more and gave responses that were a tad more direct. He even told Lincoln his name. Yet still, the eleven year old was no closer to answering the knight's question:

" _ **What be it dost thou protect?"**_

' _Krieg...what do you mean when you say that? Just what the hell is going on?'_

Lincoln's thoughts came to grinding halt when the sound of door whooshing open reached his ears.

' _And just where the hell are these two jerks taking me?'_ , the boy thought to himself as he was pushed inside. As he made his way, he heard his footsteps, as well as the guards', giving off a echo with every step, giving him the impression that, wherever he was, the room was large and spacious. Lincoln walked forward for a few seconds before a hand laid on his right shoulder, causing him to stop.

"Stay here and don't move until you are told otherwise.", the guard on his right growled. Seeing how he was no position to argue, Lincoln simply nodded in response. With the boy consenting, the guards then turned on their heels and walked away, the sound of their footsteps growing fainter and fainter to the boy's ears before the sound of the mechanical door opening and closing was heard. And then….silence.

There Lincoln stood, bound and blind, alone in a room….

"...*hic*..."

…. _or so he thought._

Lincoln's head immediately shot up to attention. He wasn't alone.

' _What was that?'_ , the young man thought as he tried to use his, due to being blindfolded, sharpened hearing to get a grasp of where the sound was coming from.

"...*sniff*...*hic*..."

' _It...it sounds like it's coming from a few feet in front of me.'_

Before Lincoln could think any further on that, a series of beeps could be heard coming his handcuffs. A second later, they automatically detached themselves from his wrists and fell to the floor with a thud.

"Wait...wha-", Lincoln managed to say before being cut off and flinching in a spook as a loud voice made itself known over an intercom.

" **You may now remove your blindfolds, children."**

' _Children?….wait. Then, that means….!'_

Lincoln didn't need to be told twice as hastily tore his blindfold off. A few seconds after his eyes adjusted to the light, the boy finally saw who was in front of him….and wept with joy.

"LINCOLN!"

"LUCY!"

Completely disregarding the orders given to him, the eleven year old ran forward toward his younger sister as she did the same. The two siblings met halfway and tightly embraced each other, Lincoln spinning Lucy around a few times as he held on to her, never wanting to let go.

"Lincoln! I-I….*sob*...t-thought I'd never s-see you or the others a-again!", stuttered Lucy as she wept into her brother's shoulder. For the past month, the young goth had assumed the worst and thought the rest of her siblings were dead.

"I thought I'd never see any of you again as well, dear sister! Oh thank god, you're alright!", Lincoln replied, tears of overwhelming relief sweeping down his face.

As he held the eight year old close and patted her head, Lincoln took the time to actually look around. The room they were in appeared to be a large domed arena of some kind. The walls and ceiling of the arena were chrome and metallic with two mechanical hangar doors to the siblings' far left and far right. The boy briefly wondered why they would put him and his little sister in here, but put the matter in the back of his mind as there were more pressing issues to address. After hearing Lucy calm down her crying to a couple of sniffles and hiccups, Lincoln put his hands on her shoulders and took a step back to get a good look at her.

"Art thou hurt? Did they...well...work on thy, too?", queried Lincoln in a concerned tone. Inwardly, though, the boy was quite shocked. Lucy, out of all of his sisters, looked the most… well, normal. Normal black hair. Normal pale skin. Human hands and feet. No tail or horns. Aside from feeling a bit cool to touch, Lucy appeared to be completely unchanged.

"They…*sniff*...they did. I guess the same has happened…*hic*...to you, too.", Lucy answered, her monotone returning as she calmed down. "Though….why did you say that?

Lincoln raised an eyebrow. "Say what?"

"You said 'art thou' and 'thy'. You also sound more refined, noble I might say. I was just wondering: why you were talking like that?"

"Oh...that. Well…", spoke Lincoln, struggling to explain his new line of speech to Lucy. "I really don't know. All I can say is that I only began speaking like this after I absorbed this 'Light Orb' thing they kept talking about. 'Tis a burden that I cannot control."

"Ah...I understand. If it makes you feel any better, I'm finding myself growing fond of it."

An surprised smirk appeared on the boy's visage. "You do?"

"I do. Honestly.", said Lucy, tilting her head and revealing one of her eyes through her bangs as she gave a small smile. "It suits you, weirdly enough."

That statement cause Lincoln to have a good chuckle. It felt like ages since he had anything remotely positive happen to him.

"Besides…", the little goth continued, her smile disappearing as she gained a more ominous tone. "You're not the only who went through an internal change."

Her words caught the eleven year old's attention, as well as cause him to start worrying again.

"Care to elaborate on that?", Lincoln hesitantly asked.

"Lincoln...I have no heartbeat."

The boy's eyebrows shot to the roof upon hearing those words.

' _No….heartbeat? What does she mean by that? Unless she's saying that she's actually….'_

Lincoln didn't finish that thought.

He didn't **want** to finish that thought.

To finish that thought was to accept that his little sister was….

Lincoln's heart began to quicken in pace and his body began to shake slightly as he returned his attention back to Lucy, who looked worried and concerned for her brother.

"Lincoln?"

"L-Lucy….are you saying….that you're-"

" **As touching as this little family reunion is, I do believe it is time we get started, don't you think?**

Lincoln and Lucy jumped at the sudden announcement before the boy stepped forward and moved his younger sister behind him in a protective gesture.

"Singed! Where art we!? What art we doing here and why!?", the white-haired Loud demanded as he frantically looked around to find the source of the voice, his sister doing the same as she clung closely to his back.

" **In that order, you are currently standing in one of the Training Arenas located at the bottom floor of the T.W.D.D. As for the what and why...well, your questions will be answered in a few minutes."** , the head scientist responded over the arena intercom.

"Good lord, be there naught anyone here that, mayhap, make a lick of sense!?", complained Lincoln as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Actually…", Lucy inputted. "I'm afraid I may have an idea of why we're here."

Lincoln turned to look at his sister, only to seeing her looking at the hangar door behind them, several yards away. As soon as he turned his gaze toward the door, a loud buzzer resonated throughout the arena. White lights blinked on along the edges of the door as it began to slowly ascend.

As Lincoln placed himself between the opening gate and his sister, Singed began speaking again.

" **As to why you two are here, the answer is quite simple…"**

With the door fully open, the two gazed into the darkness that lies within. At first, they didn't see or hear anything. But then…

 **THOOM…..THOOM…..THOOM…**

Footsteps.

Big. Mechanical. Footsteps.

" **You're here because you are hiding more than you're letting on. Therefore, Tetherby has authorized this field test to be conducted to ensure that we have your full cooperation."**

Lincoln and Lucy started taking steps backwards, terror slowly building within their bodies as the intimidating steps got closer and closer. Inevitably, a robotic foot appeared out of the darkness.

Soon enough, the rest of the body came out of the darkness and through the door.

"Oh no…..no, no, no, no, oh please no…", shuttered Lucy, utterly terrified as she shook behind her older brother.

Lincoln, despite putting on a valiant front, was quaking with fear inside as he got a look at the towering robot that now stood in front of them.

Standing at 20 feet tall, the mech looked to be running off of steam, judging from the four pipes and chimneys sprouting out of it's back. It's metal armor was a dull, sandy tan color and didn't cover all of it's form, exposing some of the gears and circuits at its legs and arms. It's right arm was relatively humanoid in shape, ending in a four-fingered hand. It's left arm, however, ended with a large blade. It's "head" consisted of a large glass sphere, decorated with golden ornate lines and trimming. Water filled the sphere inside, a fuel to power the giant robot.

" **STEAM GOLEM: ONLINE. ACQUIRING TARGETS…"** the robot loudly proclaimed before a red scanning laser located within its chest activated and sweep the area in front of it. The laser scanned the two Loud siblings before it deactivated itself. **"...TARGETS ACQUIRED."**

" **As to what you are doing here?"** , Singed went on speaking, heedless of the dire situation that Lincoln and Lucy now faced. **"That, too, is a simple answer: Fight…"**

The two headlights located on the mech's chest activated and glowed red as began bearing down on the two Louds.

" **ENGAGING TERMINATION PROTOCOL."**

" **...or DIE."**

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Good lord, guys! I am so sorry that this took me so long to put out. Job hunting is a bitch. Period.**

 **But, now we are set to begin the first of our two fights in this particular arc. Yes, you heard me right. There will be TWO fights here. Stay tuned for what the second fight will be.**

 **Also, if I didn't do a decent job describing the giant robot to you, here's the picture to give you an idea:** **art/Steampunk-Mecha-2-89239617**

 **As always, leave a review and tell me what you guys think!**

 **Catch ya later!**


	10. Survive(Part 2)

**The Loud Awakening**

 **Chapter 9: Survive(Part 2)**

 **Every fanfic writer has two annoying little parrots on their shoulders. One is called procrastination. The other is writer's block. The goal is to not let these two birds talk too much.**

 **TheFreezerStreets: I suggest you go grab some snacks, then. You're gonna be here for awhile.**

 **Keeper of Worlds: Without spoiling too much, let's just say, with the exception of Lisa, that the sisters are more in touch with their….primal side. Their actions will lean more animalistic and they will have stronger emotions, particularly when it comes to each other, the ones they care about and their only brother. Purrs, growls, roars, coos, snarls, whimpers, affectionate nuzzles and snuggles are inbound. Oh, and head pats! Can't forget about head pats.**

 **Anyway, it's Louds vs. Giant Robot time!**

 **Also, if you want, you can immerse yourself with some appropriate fight music for the fight scenes, if you like. For this one, I recommend** _ **Science Will Never Die**_ **from** _ **Devil May Cry 4**_ **, but use whatever music you like to listen to. Hell, it might be even better than my recommendations.**

 **Loud I House own not do.**

* * *

"LUCY, MOVE!", yelled Lincoln as he pulled his younger sister to him and dived out of the way, just as the giant steam golem's fist came crashing down onto the area floor. The shockwave from the fist's impact was enough to send the two Louds sailing a few feet before coming to a tumbling stop. Turning toward it's targets, the giant robot lifted it's hand off the floor and strode to the children in pursuit.

"Lucy, art thou alright!?", asked the white-haired boy as he helped the little goth onto her feet.

"I-I'm fine! B-But what are we going to do abo-LINCOLN!", screamed a terrified Lucy as pointed at the robot. Lincoln turned around just in time to see the steam golem's bladed arm be raised into the air. Without thinking, he quickly grabbed Lucy by the wrist and made a mad dash toward the right. A second later, the blade was thrusted into the ground where the two once stood.

"Just keep running!", the eleven year old yelled as he dragged his sister along, looking back to see the golem retract it's blade and turned toward them as it resumed its pursuit.

He needed a plan. And he needed one real fast.

* * *

 _Arena Observation Room_

From near the top of the arena through a one-way window, Dr. Singed and a few other scientists watched as the two Loud children tried to put distance between the deadly steam automaton and themselves.

"Stay vigilant.", spoke the bald man to his colleagues. "Any sign of their powers and abilities, no matter how small or insignificant, I want it recorded, catalogued and archived for later research and study. Understood?"

"Yes, Doctor!", the other scientists acknowledged as sat near their scanners and sensors, ready and waiting to receive any incoming data from the ensuing battle.

' _Alright, you two.'_ , Singed thought to himself, his cold eyes narrowing as he turned his attention back to the fight. _'Nowhere to hide and you can only run for so long. Show me what you can do.'_

* * *

Coming to a skidding halt, Lincoln and Lucy took a moment to catch their breath.

"Lin..coln…", the eight year old panted. "We….we can't possibly...keep this up for...forever."

"I know...that, Lucy.", Lincoln responded, similarly winded as he turned his gaze back to the mech. The two siblings had been running from the giant steam golem for the past several minutes, which obviously proved to be a fruitless endeavor seeing as how they were, essentially, trapped in a large room where they can never truly get away from it. The only thing they have going for them, currently, was that they were small and quick, managing to scurry to the other side of the arena while the golem continued to pursue them, albeit in a sluggish and lumbersome pace. The white-haired boy had hoped, with the robot's slow speed, he would have a plan that help them out of this dire predicament, but so far…..he had nothing. "I…. I, honestly, have naught the slightest clue as to how we can escape from this, dear sister. But, right now, so long as we can our distance, we should...be…..safe…."

Lincoln's statement trailed off as he witnessed the the giant mech stop its chase. It stood still for a moment or two, causing the two siblings to look at each other with ever-mounting worry. Then, it leaned forward slightly, taking a stance and looking almost as if it was bracing itself. As this was happening, several hatches had opened on the automaton's legs and back, revealing….

"Are...are those…", stammered Lucy before being shocked into silence as she saw the robot's legs and back erupt in a display of jetfire and smoke. The robot then bent down... **before launching itself into the air and descending upon them at an alarming speed!**

Lucy, in a moment of frantic panic, separated herself from her brother and sprinted to her left.

"Sister!", Lincoln called out to her, but he had no time to follow her as he went toward his right and dove out of the away in the nick of time. The steam golem landed with a thunderous crash, the impact of which being strong enough to sent the two Louds tumbling head over heels.

* * *

"Incredible…", one of the scientists commented as they recorded the data. "The golem's landing had enough force to level and blow away a three story house. Any normal human being caught near the impact would've been killed by the shockwave alone, nevermind a direct hit. Yet, these two are getting up and shaking it off like it was nothing. These children aren't human, that's for sure."

"Hmmm.", Singed acknowledged as he watched the fight continue. _'An increase in strength and durability beyond that which is mortal. If that's the case, then this could very well mean that this applies to all of the other Loud children as well. Still, I'm going to assume the position that that particular trait is a universal given. There's more than meets the eye. So show me…..Show me the power that lies within.'_

* * *

"Uuugh….My head…", groaned Lincoln, stumbling as he recovered. Just when he cleared the stars from his vision, Lucy's scream reached his ears. Now on high alert, the boy whipped his head toward where the scream came from and saw that his little sister was in process of being cornered by a now more agile steam golem, courtesy of the thrusters on it's legs and back. The automaton slammed it's hand onto the ground in front of the eight year old, cutting off her escape path. She was trapped.

"NO!", Lincoln yelled as he made a mad dash towards Lucy, but knowing he will not make it in time! Just as cold realization and despair began to grip at his heart, a familiar voice made himself known again.

" _ **What be it dost thou protect?"**_ , Krieg once again asked.

' _I….'_

Golden light began emanate from his body, particularly from his hands and arms.

"Doctor! We're getting increasing energy readings from the boy!", a female scientist exclaimed.

"Lincoln is finally showing himself.", responded Singed, a small smirk hidden underneath his bandaged mask.

' _I….'_

"LINCOLN!", Lucy tearfully cried in horror as the steam golem raised it's blade arm into the air, poised and ready to end the little girl's life.

And just when it was about to strike….

"I PROTECT MY LOVED ONES!", Lincoln roared... **before throwing a brightly glowing ball of light energy toward the robot's back!**

The energy ball collided with it's back, sending metal parts and pipes to go flying in various directions and causing it to stumble in its attack. The automaton's blade veered off course and missed Lucy by only a few feet as it pierced the arena wall. Quickly recovering from her brush with death, the little goth rushed through the robot's legs and made a beeline toward her brother. Upon reaching him, she stopped and took a moment to look in awe at him.

More specifically, what he was now holding.

In his right hand, Lincoln held a regal-looking bastard sword, it's pommel and cross-guard colored whitish gold while the blade itself a shimmering silver. While on his left arm, he held a large silver crest-shaped kite shield, gold trimming outlining the shield's edges. In the center of the shield was a picture of a white hare, eyes wide and vigilant as it stood in front of nine stars, seemingly protecting them. All the while, the eleven year old's body emitted a golden glow and his eyes glowed to the point where that's all you could see: a golden light.

"L..L-Lincoln?", whispered Lucy, shocked by the weapons and demeanor her older brother now carried.

"Lucy.", Lincoln spoke, his voice carrying an underlying tone of steely resolve as he stared the recovering steam golem. "Get behind me. I'll take care of this."

For a moment, Lucy couldn't believe what Lincoln just told her. Was he insane? For as much time as they've spent in this arena, they've been trying to survive and not die to a giant robot at the hands of a cold-hearted scientist. Now, her older brother was telling her that he was going to _fight_ this thing? It was madness! She was about to tell him as much, but then stop herself. Something deep within herself….deep within her _soul_ told her to believe in him. To believe that he can fight.

To believe that he **will** win.

So, with a nervous nod, Lucy got behind Lincoln.

As this was happening, the steam golem, with steam bellowing out of its damaged back, had recovered and turned around to face its targets once again.

" **DAMAGE STATUS: MINIMAL."** , said the giant robot. **"THREAT LEVEL OF WHITE-HAIRED TARGET: ELEVATED. PRIORITIZING…"**

"Stay here.", Lincoln said to his little sister before walking toward the robot, whose red headlights focused on the white-haired boy.

' _Lincoln...Oh god, please be careful.'_ , thought Lucy, very much scared for Lincoln yet supportive of him as she watched him march into his seemingly impending doom.

"Alright, thy wretched mass of metal and hot air!", shouted Lincoln as he pointed his sword at the giant golem. "Have at you!"

The steam automaton obliged the boy by using its thrusters to close the distance between them.

"Oh shi-", was all the eleven year old managed to utter before being swatted to the other side of the arena by the robot's right hand. Luckily, the boy had gotten his shield up in time to protect himself from any real damage. Still, Lincoln was sent flying before rolling onto the floor, where he managed to get back on his feet and skidded until his back hit a wall. Shaking the stars out of his vision, Lincoln looked up just in time to see the robot had once again took a flying leap and was now falling towards him. Thinking quickly, Lincoln ran and dove forward, the golem narrowly missing him as it thunderously landed. Rolling onto to his feet, the Man with the Plan noticed he was right underneath the golem and near one of its legs. Going for it, the boy slashed at its ankle. The sword sliced through the robot's armor plating and cut through its circuits and rods, casing the robot to stumble. Lincoln was about to go for the other ankle, but the steam golem wasn't having any of it and managed to grab the boy. Struggling as much as he could, the eleven year old could do nothing as the robot, once again, threw him to another part of the arena.

"LINCOLN!", Lucy cried out as she saw her older brother hit the wall and fell down to the ground, dropping his sword and shield in the process. She was about to run to him when he shot a hand out, stopping her in her tracks.

"No!", yelled Lincoln before coughing, a splatter of blood hitting the arena floor. "Just stay there, please! I have this in hand, I assure you!"

The goth highly doubted that, but heeded his words nonetheless and stayed put, but even more nervous and worried.

As Lincoln rose to his feet, he noticeably winced and gingerly grabbed his left side as he felt a sharp spike of pain made itself known from his lower torso.

' _Yup, that's a broken rib. Damn it, I have to finish this quickly!'_ , the boy thought to himself, fighting through the pain as he hastily picked up his weapons and turned his focus back to the robot. From what he can tell, his attack on its ankle has seemed to have hamper its movement significantly, to the point where it had to use its blade arm as a sort of crutch to even move. Turning towards the boy, the automaton stood there for a second before raising its right hand toward Lincoln's direction. The center of its palm opened, revealing three long metal tubes that were welded together. The strange looking device then started to spin rapidly. If the boy didn't know any better, it kinda looked like a…..

"SHIT!", cursed Lincoln as he quickly started running as the giant robot began shooting at him with its gatling gun.

* * *

So far, Singed has been very pleased from what this experiment has revealed. In the case where two siblings were forced into a fight or flight scenario and flight was not an option, one sibling had to make the only choice and fight back. In this case, Lincoln had no choice but to show his powers in order to protect Lucy. A cruel yet simple and effective method of getting the results the bald scientist needed. Results that, ironically enough, led to more questions.

' _Lincoln, prior to all of this, had no experience in this kind of combat.'_ , Singed thought to himself. _'Yet, here he is, able to handle himself against an opponent many times his size, even damaging and crippling it. Almost as if the boy, instinctively, knows how to fight an enemy like this. Could it be that the Light Orb had provided the experience needed for Lincoln to be able to perform like this? If so, how? Also, does this apply to the other Orbs as well? Could Lucy and the other girls also have this natural instinct of combat prowess?'_

The head doctor narrowed his eyes as he watched on. Yes, this test seems have to brought out more questions than answers. Fortunately, Singed was a patient man. He'll get his answers, no matter how long it to-...

Singed's eyes, as well as the eyes of his fellow colleagues, widened from they just saw.

More specifically, what Lincoln just did. One female scientist thought it appropriate to comment.

"Did….did that kid just…"

* * *

Lincoln, honestly, had no idea what just happened. One minute he's running and dodging a stream of bullets, making sure said don't get anywhere near Lucy while trying to figure out how to close the distance without getting perforated. The next minute, his peripheral vision brighten for moment as looked toward the shooting robot and then….bam!

In a _blink_ of an eye, the eleven year old now stood a couple of feet away from the steam golem!

' _What the hell did I just do!?'_ , thought Lincoln. Unfortunately, he couldn't delve deeper into that train of thought because the golem, upon seeing him so close, attempted to use its blade arm turned crutch to skewer him. The boy hopped to the left, dodging it before gaining an insane idea. Willfully causing his shield to disappear, he ran toward the automaton's damaged foot and began climbing up its leg. Turning the gatling gun back into a hand, the golem reached for the boy, only to grab air when Lincoln jumped onto its arm, stabbing his sword into it. The giant robot then tried to shake him, but the boy valiantly hung on. Seeing this, the golem then tried to use its blade arm again, but its damaged foot caused it to stumble again and, with threat of falling over, had to plant its blade down into the floor to stabilize itself. Now seizing his chance, Lincoln quickly got onto his feet on the arm and, once it turned its attention back toward him, jumped for its water-filled core/head.

With a cry, Lincoln drove his sword into the steam golem's core with all the strength he could muster. For moment, all was still and everyone, both victim and villain, held their breath. And then…

 **CRACK!**

A large crack appeared right down the center of the golem's core, along hundreds of smaller cracks appearing along the rest of its surface like spider webs. Water began to erupt out of the cracks, some of them soaking Lincoln before, ultimately…

 **SPLOOOOM!**

The core exploded as as a river of water surged outward, washing away Lincoln as the automaton staggered onto its knees.

" **CORE...DAMAGED…..LOSING….POWER….SHUTTING DOOOOOOOOO** ooooooooo….", the steam golem gave out its final call before its body finally came down with a crashing boom, unmoving and lifeless.

Coughing and spitting out water, Lincoln shakingly got back onto his feet, his sword vanishing off to side. He looked toward the golem and breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing its defeated state.

"Luc-Oof!", Lincoln was about to call his younger sister when said sister slammed into his side, not caring how soaked to the bone he was as she tightly hugged him and sent them both to the floor.

"Lincoln, that was the most reckless and dangerous thing I have ever seen you pull! I honestly thought you were going to die! Don't you ever do that again!", Lucy scolded at him as she cried her worry and fear into his shoulder.

Silently wincing from the stinging pain of his broken rib, Lincoln bared through the pain as he wrapped his arms around the little goth to comfort her.

"Aye. T'was an insane course of action on my part. For that, I apologize. I didn't mean to cause thy such distress.", he replied, his voice warm and soothing as he calmed her down.

* * *

As the two siblings comforted each other, Singed looked down upon them professional approval, quite impressed with what had seen so far. Well, from Lincoln, anyway. Lucy had yet to impress him.

' _Let's hope the next test changes that.'_ , thought the head scientist as he turned to his group.

"Give them five minutes. Then….we release Baron."

* * *

 **Author's Notes: TWO MONTHS! Little over two damn months it took me to update this shit! I can only apologize and say thank you so much for stay with me this far!**

 **The reason for the long-ass wait? Good news, everyone! I finally have a job at Home Depot! Best part about that? It's mostly four-hour nights, with Sundays being 6pm-10pm and my day-offs being Wednesdays and Thursdays . Which means I still have time to work on this fic. Everyone wins!**

 **Anyway, Lincoln took up arms and has defeated the steam golem! Along with showing what he can do. Sword and shield and has a blink. FYI, those aren't the** _ **only**_ **weapons he can will into existence. And we haven't even seen what Lucy can do yet! Also, who's Baron? Stay tuned for more.**

 **As always, leave a review! I always read them! Even the ones that say, "Please update".**

 **Catch ya later!**


	11. Survive(Part 3)

**The Loud Awakening**

 **Chapter 10: Survive(Part 3)**

 **Wow! Over 600 views in one night, a new record for me! Y'all must've really been waiting for that one to come out! Lucky for you, I aim to please.**

 **DreadedCandiru2: ….Oh, you poor thing. You're going into this thinking shit won't hit the fan in the most extreme way. As for what Lucy will look like…..just keep reading. Also, batgirl? Oh no, no, no. That's thinking too small. For our beloved little goth, I have something a tad more...** _ **wicked**_ **. ;D**

 **JTLikesToWrite: Thanks! I'm enjoying it, so far!**

 **The Keeper of Worlds: Thank you! As for the designs on Lincoln's shield, I'm going to assume that you got the message I was showing of the rabbit(Lincoln) being the guardian of the nine stars(his sisters), with all ten of them being the ones that were affected by the Orbs. Yes, I did mark him as the front line. So, of course, Lily isn't involved….for now. As for your aid…..hold that thought. I MAY just come back to you. ;D**

 **I feel I should warn you guys that this chapter is gonna get a bit graphic. It's time I get dark and kick the violence up a notch. You have been warned.**

 **The Loud Awakening is mine and mine alone! The Loud House is not mine, I'm afraid.**

* * *

For a few minutes, the two Loud children sat in silent relief, recovering from their harrowing experience with the steam golem. Yet, at the same time, said experience sprung up a slew of questions within their young minds. The most obvious being…

"How did you do that?", asked an awed Lucy in some recovered monotone as she finally calmed down. "I've never seen you fight like that before, with weapons even. Better yet, I've never even seen you _move_ like that."

"Honestly...I have naught a clue as to how I lived through all of that. Ye guess is as good as mine, sister.", responded Lincoln, equally just as perplexed as to how he managed to fight and win against a giant robot before he narrowed his eyes. "Though….I think may have a hunch as to how I did what I was able to do."

"Would it have something to do with what they made us absorb?", queried the little goth

"Most likely, yes. All I know is that, a month prior to all of this, I couldn't summon weapons or throw glowing spheres of light at anything."

"You couldn't teleport either."

"Aye, that to- wait, is **that** what I did?"

"Yeah, from one side to the other. Though, I have to admit, even though it was really scary and reckless of you to fight that thing…..you looked pretty cool doing it.", spoke Lucy with a small smile as she got onto her feet.

"If this is what being 'cool' feels like, then it'd be overrated.", replied Lincoln, standing up before wincing and tenderly clutching his left side.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?", Lucy asked, concerned and worried.

"Not quite. I think I mayhap broke a rib during that fight.", said the eleven year old through gritted teeth before chuckling. "Quite a thing, isn't it? That entire fight and I come out of it with only a cracked rib. If the circumstances weren't so dire, I'd be gushing right now."

For a moment, Lucy was silent before tilting her head down in what appeared to be shame, to which Lincoln noticed.

"Lucy? Tis the matter?"

"...Again."

"Huh?"

"You…..you did it again.", the eight year old uttered in a broken monotone, sounding like she was on the verge of tears once again. "Just like the toilet incident, you protected me. Only this time, the stakes were vastly higher and you…..y-you could've died! And it would've been my fault! You're injured right now because of me!"

The white-haired boy's eyes widened at his little sister's exclamation before a sense of realization swept through his mind.

"Sister, does….does thou blame thyself for what is happening to us?"

Lucy sniffed and gave a slow yet sure nod as tears streamed down her face.

Seeing this, Lincoln's visage turned defeated as he placed a hand over his eyes to halt the coming tears. During his kidnapping, the boy was constantly worried about how his family were reacting and what they were going to do to get him back. However, there was one persistent thought that haunted the preteen's mind: _Did his family, his sisters in particular, blame themselves for what happened?_ With Lucy's confirmation, his worst fear was realized: _They did._ The girls blamed themselves when he was kidnapped. They blamed themselves when Tetherby captured them. They blamed themselves for their imprisonment. And now…

They blamed themselves for the loss of their humanity….and innocence.

Wanting to set the record straight and nip this issue at the bud, Lincoln held back his tears and adopted a determined look.

"Lucy, listen to me.", he began as he placed a brotherly hand on the goth's shoulder, the firm yet compassionate tone in his voice causing Lucy to look up at her brother. "I speaketh the truth when I say that naught once did I ever-"

" **Apologies for the interruption, children, but I believe it is time that we move on to our final test."** , announced Singed through the arena's intercom, once again spooking the two Louds.

"What be this, now!? T'was my battle with thine giant robot not enough to sate thine twisted curiosity!?", raved Lincoln as he looked up towards the ceiling, angered at the scientist's intrusion. Seeing his frustration, Lucy placed a hand on his back in an attempt to calm him.

" **Not quite. Though, I must admit, I'm thoroughly pleased with your performance, Lincoln. Your powers are nothing short of incredible and I'm sure you will reveal more with time. Your sister, on the other hand, has yet to show her capabilities. Something that I'm sure Baron will….** _ **convince**_ **you into unveiling."**

Both Lincoln and Lucy felt chilling tingle crawled up their spines. Apparently, whatever is coming through the other gate had an actual name.

"W-Who's Baron?", shuttered the young goth.

" **Why don't you meet it for yourselves?"** , answered Singed, right before another loud buzzer sounded off throughout the arena. The eleven and eight year old turned toward the other hanger door as it began to open.

"Lucy, get behind me.", spoke Lincoln, willing his sword and shield into existence once more.

"But you're hurt! You may have survived and won the first fight, but what about this!?", protested Lucy, not wanting to see her older brother go through another battle.

"I know that, sister. But right now, I'm the only one who can-"

" _ **KIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!"**_

The two Loud children froze, completely paralyzed with fear from the sound that came from within the darkness of the now open gate. After a few tense seconds, Lincoln barely shook off his fear and raised his shield in front of him as he focused towards the gate and whatever may lie within it. Lucy, once again trembling, slowly got behind her brother. Together, they waited for their new opponent to come out….

Ten seconds…

Twenty seconds….

Thirty seconds…..

When a full minute passed, Lincoln raised an eyebrow, wondering what was taking whatever they were facing so long to come out. Lucy, the anxiety getting the best of her, decided to give voice to it.

"Um….W-What are we-"

The rest of her comment would go unfinished, sadly, as their next opponent finally made its move, shooting out of the gate like a bat out of hell and ran towards them so fast that, even though Lincoln blocked the charge, the momentum was enough to send the boy careening into his sister and the two went flying into the wall. His weapons vanishing from the impact, Lincoln fell to hands and knees as he shook the stars out his eyes, as well as shaking off the pain that flared up from his injury. Once he recovered, the boy checked on his little sister.

"Art thou alright, Lucy!?", he quickly asked in urgency.

"I'm...ugh….I'm fine.", the goth responded in a bit pain, from both her brother slamming into her and hitting the wall at the same time. As she looked up, she froze. Lincoln was able to see her eyes through a brief parting of her bangs. They were wide with blatant terror. "But what is THAT!?"

Lincoln turned to where Lucy was looking towards….and promptly thought of the same terrifying question.

' _What in the HELL is THAT!?'_

" **Children…"** , Singed announced through the speakers. **"...meet Baron."**

Baron, as the creature was called, roughly resembled a savagely twisted feral wolf. Covered in swampy green scales with bony protrusions that look like muscle tissue and bone, it's club-like tail was clad in bony studs. The thing was almost half the size of the steam golem, around 11-12 feet tall, but it was as long as two metro city buses. Baron's eyes were like blood red dots that sat in a void of black. It's teeth were shaped like daggers, long and sharp. However, perhaps the most dangerous aspect of this beast that the two Louds were noticing was that it had, not one, bot two rows of sharp claws on its front and rear paws, ready to eviscerate anything it pounces on…

... _and it looked ready to pounce on Lincoln and Lucy!_

* * *

As he watched the two siblings engage with the beast, Singed thought back to how he came to pick Baron for this particular test. More specifically, the practical application of The Living Failures.

The Living Failures were a collection of test subjects that were the result, directly or indirectly, of experiments gone wrong or said test subjects becoming too unstable from frequent testing. Baron was one of the more vicious cases of the latter. Now, normally, this kind of research was… rather high on the morally and ethically questionable spectrum and, as such, would've been shut down by humane activists and ethics groups around the country. But at the T.W.D.D, morals and ethics were tossed to the wayside in favor of progression and, in Tetherby's case, power. So throwing two kids, who've recently gained supernatural powers, in an enclosed space to fight to the death with a experimental abomination? No one bats an eye.

' _But it does help to have a stomach of steel for this kind of work.'_ , the head scientist thought to himself. A wise thought to have, indeed.

 _Especially for what happened next._

* * *

As Lincoln fell to the ground again, his injured left side causing him to release agonizing groans, he came to several conclusions. One, Baron was far more dangerous than the steam golem. It was faster, didn't let up between attacks and its wild and unpredictable nature made it very difficult for Lincoln on whether or not he should attack or defend. Two, it was doing a good job at keeping him separated from Lucy. Even with his ability to blink over to her, Baron always made sure that Lincoln never got any solid footing to put a defense. And three….

Baron was _intentionally_ going after the seemingly weaker of the duo: Lucy.

 _Cause why go after the more resistant prey when there's a easier one right next to you?_

Gritting his teeth, the boy rose to his feet, albeit somewhat painfully. In addition to his injured rib, Lincoln now sported several bad bruises and nasty claw marks on his body that, while not putting him in danger of bleeding out, left his body wounded and his clothes in barely hanging tatters. Lucy, who barely just dodged a claw swipe from the savage abomination, looked in slightly better shape thanks to her brother's protection, but still wasn't completely spared from Baron's attacks. The back of her shirt was torn clean off, revealing a claw marks that lightly drew blood, though no one seemed to pay attention as to what the **color** of her blood was. As it were, Lucy was near hysterical, crying and panicking as she scrambled to put any sort off distance from Baron, who ready to attack her again. The creature pounced in with another claw swipe but, once again, Lincoln fought through his own pain and blinked himself between his little sister and Baron, raising his shield just in time to block the incoming assault. This time, however, the boy's feet finally found some solid ground and Baron wasn't able to toss merely knock him away again. However, due to his injuries, Lincoln found his strength failing as the beast pressed its weight onto him, causing him fall to one knee.

"Lincoln!", Lucy cried out.

"L-Lucy….Go! While I hath its attention!", Lincoln grunted, through both effort and pain as he valiantly held on against Baron's increasing pressure.

"No! I can't do that! I won't leave you to die to this thing!"

"Sister, please! It will just keep going after you if you stay by my-"

The eleven year old's plea would go unfinished as Baron, seemingly fed up with this particular prey's constant interference, suddenly lifted its paw off of the boy's shield, catching the boy off guard from the immediate absence of pressure as he stumbled forward. Seeing this moment of vulnerability, the savage beast surged forward…

 **...and clamped its jaws down hard upon Lincoln's left arm.**

The boy screamed in unforgiving agony, his now injured arm nearly torn from his body as Baron violently threw him to the other side of the arena, his body bouncing off the wall before falling to the floor in a quivering heap.

"LINCOLN, NO!", Lucy wailed, about rush over to her beloved brother, but in her panicked state of familial concern, she forgot about Baron's nearby presence.

That would prove to be a very **fatal** mistake.

Lincoln was lying on the floor, gritting his teeth hard and hot tears pouring out of his clamped-closed eyes as he stewed in unbelievable pain from his grisly damaged arm, when he heard a sound that not even his darkest nightmares could ever hope to conjure: **One of his dear sisters screaming in terror and pain.** The boy's eyes flew open and, despite the flaring signals of anguish coming from his left arm, quickly sat up to see...

Only one word came to Lincoln's shocked mind as his eyes beheld the scene before him:

' _Hell.'_ , thought the young boy. _'I'm in hell.'_

Indeed, the term was quite accurate. After all…

 **How else would you describe your little sister getting ripped apart?**

The scene was horrific, to say the least. Baron, with its large jaws clamped harshly down on the small girl's torso, had picked her up and mercilessly shook her like a rag doll, breaking and dislocating many of her bones. Lucy was in so much pain that she couldn't even muster a sound, her face frozen in a silent scream of torment and despair. After a few seconds of violent shaking, the feral beast threw her to the ground and, with tooth and claw, eviscerated the eight year old. Arms, legs, her internal organs, even her head. All were torn off and out of her body and cruelly thrown about in a vicious display of gore and brutality.

And Lincoln saw all of this…

... **with horrifying clarity.**

Oh, how he wished that all of this wasn't real. Wished that this was just some sick and twisted nightmare that could wake up from. Sadly, the emotional torment in his heart, far greater than the pain in his left arm, felt all too real. And all too real as well, his greatest fear had came to fruition: One of his beloved sisters…

 **Dead.**

* * *

No one said a word in the arena's observation room. Hell, one female scientist had fainted when Baron started killing Lucy while another had to rush toward the restroom to vomit her earlier lunch. Even Singed was silent though, unlike his subordinates, he was deep in thought.

' _This….is quite unfortunate.'_ , he thought to himself, sighing as he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn't expect one of the projects to die so early in the program's infancy. Seeing as how Lincoln was able to defeat the steam golem with minor injuries, the head scientist had hoped that Lucy, seeing her older brother's faltering state when fighting Baron, would have an emotional trigger and unleash her true form and powers, just like her sisters. Incidentally, this didn't happen as intended. Singed concluded that either Lucy was to caught in her fear to perform or she was simply too weak. In any case, it really didn't matter now. All Singed knew for sure was that Tetherby was not going happy that one of the Louds had died in the process. Boy, was he in for a migraine when he delivered that report.

However, to say it was all for nothing would be an incorrect assumption as Singed opened his eyes and looked down to see Baron slowly closing in on Lincoln, who was too grief-stricken to even move. The bald man turned his gaze toward Lucy's remains and took note of one VERY stark aspect: Lucy's blood wasn't red…. **but black.**

' _Intriguing. It would seem the Orbs, when fused to the host's soul, changes them, not only physically, but genetically as well, right down to the molecular level. In the Nerg Orb's case, it changed the Lucy's blood a completely different color.'_ That particular thought brought up another question. _'If the host dies, what happens to the soul the Orb fused with? Does the Orb simply go with the soul, into the here-after? Or does it manifest somewhere else at a later time?'_

Alas, more questions that needed answers. Thankfully, Lucy's body, or what remains of it anyway, can be recovered afterwards. Right now, though, Singed had to conclude the test before Baron killed another Loud. The man was just about order the release of the arena's sleeping nerve gas when…

"D-Doctor Singed?", stammered a male assistant, sitting in front of a monitor with a tone of shock and….growing fright?

"Yes, what is it?", Singed turned toward the man in response.

"It….It's Lucy…"

This made the bald scientist quirk an eyebrow. "What about her?"

"S-She's moving, sir…"

"My good man, I don't think I need to tell you of what happens when you tear a limb from the rest of the body.", stated Singed, resisting the urge to roll his eyes and take a more condescending tone. "Everyone knows that nerve endings can still transmit informa-"

"Sir, that is not what meant.", the assistant urged, adamantly shaking his head. " I meant that her remains are moving…. _toward her body."_

That got everyone's attention as they all turned their male colleague their own looks of surprise and disbelief.

"Moving towards…..Impossible.", Singed commented, narrowing his eyes as he marched over toward the assistant's monitor so he could see for himself.

For the first time in a while, Dr. Singed was flabbergasted.

Sure enough, Lucy's limbs and organs were **ALL** moving. But it wasn't the mere fact that they were moving that shocked that him.

 **It was how they were moving.**

* * *

Lincoln didn't feel the pain of his now broken rib threatening to puncture his lung.

He didn't feel the streams of blood that leaked out of his wounds.

He didn't feel the pain of his viciously bitten left arm.

He didn't even react to when Baron knocked him over and placed its paw onto his chest, claws digging into his chest and crushing weight threatening to cave in his torso. The beast roared in the boy's face, yet he didn't even feel or smell it's revolting breath. By the blank and empty stare in his tearful eyes, Lincoln wasn't even there anymore.

All he could feel was the unbridled anguish in his heart over seeing Lucy's cruel demise. All at once, memories of little goth sister flooded through his mind.

Her first words, which were "Nevermore", funny enough.

Her first steps.

Her first day of school.

Her first poem.

Even her first attempts of contacting dead spirits.

Lucy held a special place in his heart for being the first sibling to give him the title of "Big Brother". He remembered every special moment he ever had with her, from reviewing her poems and giving her tips to her confessing her most secret guilty pleasure. Memories and moments that Lincoln truly cherished with all of his heart.

But now...Lucy was gone. Dead.

' _I'm sorry, my dear Lucy. Your big brother couldn't protect you in time. But don't worry. You won't be alone for long.'_ , Lincoln thought as he smiled in sorrow and grief. _'My sisters….forgive me. I've failed you.'_

With that thought, Lincoln closed his eyes, accepting and waiting for his death. Baron, seeing its pesky prey finally submit, was all too willing to fulfil the boy's wish. But just as Baron leaned in to bite Lincoln's head off…

" **KYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!"**

Both Lincoln and Baron froze from the high-pitched screech, the former out of shock and the latter out of suddenly sensing a dangerous threat...as well as a bit of nervousness.

The experimental abomination slowly turned its head toward the source of the screech, as did Lincoln, despite a large paw restraining him.

What the boy saw, he couldn't explain. Hell, he doubted even _Lisa_ could explain what was happening before his eyes. Despite his brain telling them to look again and again it could understand what it was seeing, his eyes kept relaying the message:

 **Lucy was putting herself back together!**

All of her limbs had become covered in a dark gray biological, almost chitinous armor. Not only that, but out of the stumps of her arms and legs sprouted black spiky tentacles that waved and flail wildly before dragging the limbs toward her disemboweled body. All of her organs, from her still heart to even her developing womanhood, were black and had tentacles as well that were used to move. Some of her organs, like her intestines, had spider-like legs coming out of them and were _walking_ toward her body. The only part of her body that wasn't moving was her head, which though it moving in place and had small tentacles coming out of of her severed neck. As they all converged, Lucy's corpse twitched and arched upwards as a dark mist began emanate from her corpse. The first to reach the body were her arms, reattaching themselves to her shoulders as muscle tissue, and then pale skin, began to regenerate. Next came her legs and, with the return of her extremities, her body slowly to sit on her knees before stopping, her arms hanging limply at her sides. Then came her organs as they climbed up her body and placed themselves in their proper positions within her exposed chest cavity and abdomen, as well as attaching to other organs as well. As soon as her last organ, her unbeating heart, was snugly back in its place, her bones and muscle tissue regenerated, protectively encasing her organs before pale unblemished skin was regenerated over them. With her body repaired, now all that was left was the head, to which a long black tentacle spewed forth from the neck stump and quickly reached over for the tentacles that were sprouting out of the heads. The tentacles clung on to each other before retracting, her head zoomed and slammed into the rest of her body, the force of the impact causing her to reel back before fall onto her hands and knees.

Just like that, Lucy was whole once more. Naked as the day she was born, to Lincoln's fleeting embarrassment. Slowly, the goth raised her head, saw what was before her….and gave a very **inhuman** growl toward Baron.

" **GET…"** , spoke Lucy in a dark and almost demonic voice, sharp bone-like claws being extended from the tips of her fingers and toes as she got on all fours.

" **AWAY..."**

Spikes began to grow along on her arms.

" **FROM…"**

In shower of black blood, an array of large black-tipped spikes sprouted along her back. A long tail had also grew from about her butt, the tip of which ending with spikes as well.

" **MY…"**

The dark mist around Lucy swirled around her as her hair began move like it had a mind of its own, blacks locks acting like snakes. Her bangs parted, revealing her face. Her eyes were ghoulish white slits, glowing in a pool of inky black. Her bared teeth razor sharp, her canines especially. Her visage set in a scowl of fury and familial rage.

" **BROTHERRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"**

* * *

 **Author's Notes: And there's your fucked up part, Gamelover!**

 **Seriously though, how was my violence? It's my first time trying to write brutal material. I didn't come on too strong, did I? I also made a few more references in this chapter: One sorta obvious one with Baron and a combination of a webcomic and game reference with Lucy. Care to take a guess? I bet you guys won't get'em.**

 **Aside from that, things have escalated quickly! Lucy's new appearance has finally been revealed and she's come to come to her big brother's aid. It's Lucy vs. Baron in the next chapter, so don't miss it!**

 **As always, tell me how y'all are liking this story so far by leaving me a review!**

 **Catch ya later!**


	12. Survive(Part 4)

**The Loud Awakening**

 **Chapter 11: Survive(Part 4)**

 **Me: You saw that, right?**

 **Inner Me: Yup. Over 700 views in one day. A new record.**

 **Me: And you know what that means, right?**

 **Me and Inner Me: WE'RE ON A ROLL!**

 **DreadedCandiru2: Considering what she is now, ANY supernatural creature would think twice before facing her…**

 **JTLikesToWrite: Oh buddy, she's more than that.**

 **That Engineer & The Keeper Of Worlds: Okay, it was NOT my intention to make Hellsing and Tokyo Ghoul references! Due to you two pointing that out, that happened by accident! I was actually giving nods to Monster Hunter World and Grim Tales From Below.(Baron being my recolored version of Odogaron and Lucy's appearance being a fusion between Nergigante and Minnie's Demon Form.) So, essentially, she's more of a shapeshifting chimera than a vampire. Still, the fact that those two shows were the first things that came your minds is funny to me! XD**

 **Clamanatha: Not EVERYONE who works under Tetherby is heartless. That's all I will say for now…**

 **I do not….you know what, I'm just gonna stop saying this. You guys already know, anyway. This is a FANFICTION site, for God's sake.**

 **Battle Music:** _ **Infinity In Your Hands(Second Club Mix) - DJ Darkzone**_

* * *

Speechless. Aside from the great pain he was feeling, Lincoln was left utterly speechless at the sight that now stood before him. Lucy, his little goth sister, who only minutes ago was left in brutally murdered pieces, had come back from the dead and became…. _whatever_ she is now. Needless to say, the poor boy was floored from seeing this.

Baron, on the other hand, gave an cautious growl as it struggled to understand what had just happened. Wasn't this particular prey suppose to be dead? It had, more or less, effectively killed this one, so how were they still standing? Regardless, Baron ignored the resurrected little girl and turned its attention back to Lincoln, intent on finishing the job. Before it could lean in, however, it heard a shrill warcry and rapidly approaching footsteps. Baron snapped its head back toward Lucy, who had closed the distance between them at an alarming speed on all fours, as she ran and leapt at the experimental creature, clawed hands and feet first. Reacting instinctively, Baron jumped away just as Lucy slammed into its previous position, somehow managing to avoid hurting Lincoln in the process. The creature gave an indignant snarl at the newly transformed goth, to which she replied with an equally fierce hiss as she hovered protectively over her injured older brother.

"L-*cough*...Lucy?", wheezed Lincoln, who was still in a great amount of pain.

" **Brother…"** , Lucy answered, her voice now carrying a ghostly undertone, something you'd expect to hear when you walk through a gloomy graveyard. **"Please…..don't move. You're badly hurt."**

"But...I don't-*cough*...w-want ye to get hurt. Not again.", the boy countered in wavering tone, tears threatening to spill from his eyes as the memory of her first "death" was still fresh in his mind. "Twas already horrible that I saw ye die the first time. I hath not the strength to bear witness to it again."

Keeping an eye on the now cautious yet still enraged Baron, Lucy, as gently as she could, helped Lincoln and moved him toward the arena wall, his back now resting against it. With her attention still focused on Baron, she spoke.

" **Lincoln...remember how you protected me from being mocked by our sisters during the Princess Pony Book incident?"** , the small goth began.

"Y-yes….I remember.", Lincoln replied, curious as to where Lucy was going with this, especially at this dire point of time.

" **A little over a month ago, before we came to get you, I finally told the others the truth. That it was I, not you, who clogged the toilet with that book."**

In response, the boy's eyes widened with surprise.

" **Yes, I finally told the truth. I told the truth because it only seemed right to do you justice after what had happened to you. Through thick and thin, good or bad, you always cared and supported everything our family did. Not just for me, but for the others as well. From Lori to Lily, you always stood by us and for us. From protecting us from bullies to cheering us on in our dreams, you were there. When we were sad or angry, you were there, willing to lend a shoulder to cry on or a ear hear us vent away our stress. Whether you know it or not, Lincoln, you are the glue that holds this family together."**

Breaking her gaze for just a second, Lucy turned to her brother, her bangs parting to reveal a glowing slitted eye.

" **So please, dear brother. Let me protect you."**

Rather than wait for her brother's reply, the eight year old goth turned her gaze back in front and strode forward on all fours, letting out a threatening hiss toward Baron, who responded with an equally menacing snarl. As the two were set to fight, Lincoln could only look on with a sense of helplessness and overwhelming worry. He, very much, did NOT want Lucy fighting the savage beast. Not after witnessing what the creature did to his younger sister the first time. Sure, whatever these _orbs_ did to them, had made Lucy come back from a mutilated death, although she now appeared vastly different from the experience. Still, the image of her death was seared into Lincoln's mind and would be the main feature of his nightmares for a while. A **good** while. However, what was he to do? The eleven year old was seriously injured and in a great amount of pain. Right now, he couldn't even get back on his own two feet without his body hollering in protest, let alone come to his sister's defense. Plus, Lucy's words made it very clear that she wants to go into this fight alone. That she will be the one who protected him this time.

So, with a very concerned heart and a pain-riddled deep breath due to his broken ribs, Lincoln remained on the sidelines.

"Be careful, dear Lucy.", he whispered, giving his support as he prayed that she would survive the coming battle. "...and fight well."

Unknown to the Man with the Plan, Lucy's newly evolved senses picked up her brother's supportive words, causing her now still black heart to swell with steely resolve as she and Baron slowly made their back toward the center of the arena.

* * *

Back up top, the observation room was buzzing with activity. Dr. Singed's research team were busy and focused as they studied and reviewed the incredible amount of data and results the sensors collected from Lucy's apparent revival and transformation. The head scientist himself was, once again, deep in thought near the the observation window, spectating as Baron and Lucy had arrived at the arena's center and began stalking each other in a circle, one sizing the other up.

' _For lack of a stronger term, today has been nothing short of remarkable. Not only have Lincoln and Lucy finally reveal their powers and abilities, but the Nerg Orb has blessed the girl with, not only a physical transformation, but also an ability that I never even dream would be possible: A complete revival from death. Does Lucy now have the gift of immortality? Could this gift also be found within the other children who merged? And if so….'_ , Singed thought to himself with a bit of growing eagerness before he caught himself, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before reopening them, calm and collected.

' _Let's not jump the gun here, Singed. Remember: Only fools rush in. Now, from what I can gather, Lucy was able to resurrect herself from Baron's brutal assault. As to how that is possible, I hypothesize that her Orb fused soul to be in play here. It has always been said amongst people, throughout history, that if one were to be born without the pure essence of one's self, then that one is not living. Having a soul is almost considered to be the same as being a living person. If you don't have one, then you aren't one. When applying that logic to this particular scenario, the Nerg Orb, apparently, takes it to an extreme. Indeed, as long as Lucy's soul remains, her body will always come back. Now, this isn't to say that she is a true immortal. Just because getting torn asunder didn't kill her, doesn't rule out another lethal method from doing her in. After all, if history has taught us anything, is that there are numerous ways to die. We just found one way that won't kill Lucy. So, for now, I'll consider her to have….partial immortality.'_

With that thought, the bald scientist's attention came back toward the arena floor, ever more curious to see what the little goth girl had in store.

* * *

For a few tense seconds, Lucy and Baron stalked each other, both waiting for the other to make a move. All while an injured Lincoln sat and watched with anxious breath. Suddenly, Baron, finally fed up of waiting, took the initiative and leapt toward Lucy, sharp teeth and clawed feet first. The transformed goth jumped to side, dodging the creature's pounce. Eyes still locked on to her, Baron followed up with a claw swipe. Again, Lucy evaded, quickly hopping back to avoid the attack. Still not dettered, Baron surged forward, teeth first in a attempt to bite the eight year old. This time, Lucy jumped straight up. As the experimental beast passed underneath her, she fell and landed on its back, where she then proceeded to use her claws and spikes to scratch and slash into its scales and hide. Feeling pain from its prey's attacks, Baron started to buck, wildly running and jumping in any direction just to try to get Lucy off. After eight seconds of bucking, Lucy lost her balance, trying to use her claws to hold to the creature's side. Sensing this, Baron twisted around, grabbed Lucy with its teeth and threw her off, sending her tumbling to the floor.

"LUCY!", cried out Lincoln, growing more and more worried as his little sister fought this abomination. As Lucy tried to recover, Baron leapt high into the air, roaring as it descended claws first. Lucy only had enough time to look up and see Baron nearly upon her. But, just when it crashed down on her…

 **FWOOSH!**

 _She dispersed into a cloud of black mist._

"W-...wait, what!?", Lincoln exclaimed, very confused on how his younger sister was able to do that. Baron was equally, if not even more, confused over what just happened, frantically searching from within the mist for the prey that was there just a second ago. As Baron searched, it didn't notice how the black mist began to move and gather a few feet above it. Then, the mist began to take a small human shape. Before Lincoln astonished eyes, Lucy reappeared and landed on Baron's back, where she once again began ravaging it, this time drawing blood. Some of her spikes even began to break off as they lodged themselves into the experimental creature. Caught off guard and really feeling the pain this time, Baron let out a painful hiss and ran full speed toward the nearest wall, slamming its side into it. The impact was enough to dislodged Lucy off of it, as well as disorienting her. This moment of vulnerability was long enough for Baron to swing its clubbed tail full into her. The goth screeched in pain as the tail fractured her right arm and sent her flying across arena, rolling along the floor before slamming into the lifeless body of the steam golem. Baron gave off a loud growl that was a mix of pain and anger, its back was bleeding badly, along with having bloody claw marks and broken off spikes marring its body. With a labored breath, Baron, seeing how its current opponent hadn't recovered at the moment, decided to switch back to an easier target.

Lincoln, who had tears in his eyes as he had yet to see Lucy get back up, heard a threatening snarl coming from a few feet away. He quickly turned his gaze to the noise, only to find Baron, wounded yet very much active, slowly prowl its way toward him.

"Oh no…", uttered the eleven year old as he tried to scramble to his feet to at least attempt to defend himself, but the injuries that had sustained from both the steam golem and Baron were proving to make the task quite herculean. Despite this, Lincoln's sheer will was enough to get him standing, where he was barely able to will his sword into exist. The stalking beast let off series of small wheezing hisses, almost as if it was laughing at the boy's pitiful defense. Though, just as Baron approached striking distance from Lincoln…

 **THUNK!**

A large piece of metal suddenly cannoned into Baron's side, causing it to be thrown off of its feet and onto to its side. Getting back on its feet and shaking the stars out of its vision, Baron turned to give an infuriated roar at whoever attacked it, only to be met with another large metal piece to the face. Turning his gaze back toward where the metal parts were being thrown from, Lincoln's eyes were met with a mixed feeling of shock, relief and strange fascination. There, on top of the defeated giant robot, stood Lucy. Mists of darkness swirling around as her spiked back now sported four long black tentacles, each one gripping and ripping a part of the steam golem off and throwing them at Baron. Her right arm, which was broken by Baron's tail, was in the process of quickly healing itself.

" **YOUR FIGHT IS WITH ME, NOT HIM, YOU DAMNED CUR!"** , yelled Lucy, her fury bolstered by her newly strengthened primal instincts to protect her kin. Her actions proved to be successful, as Baron gave an enraged roar before running toward her, dodging her projectilites as it ran. Once it got close enough, the creature then pounced, jaws wide and claws ready. Again, Lucy turned into black mist, making Baron miss as it went sailing past. As she became solid again, a shining glimmer caught the goth's slitted eye. Turning, she saw the robot's blade arm lying in stillness.

Seeing the weapon in her sights, a idea bloomed in her mind.

As Baron landed and skidded to to a halt, scarring the arena floor with its claws as it did, it looked back just in time to see Lucy spin around and fire off spikes from her tail. Not reacting quick enough, the spikes impaled themselves into Baron, with a lucky one finding its mark in the dead center of one of its eyes. Baron let out a wailing screech of anguish, wildly running and jumping around in pain as it tried desperately to get the spike out of its eye. Seeing how the beast was distracted for now, Lucy jumped down and landed near the blade arm. Then, in shower of black blood, two more tentacles sprouted from her back. After wrapping each tentacle around different sections of the arm, she then gripped the weapon with her own two clawed hands and began pulling, hard. Loud creaks and groans of metal torn apart echoed throughout the arena. Between checking to see if Baron was still occupied and the constant pulling, it took Lucy two of the most tense-filled minutes of her life to finally, in a thunderous symphony of torn metal and snapping circuits, pull the blade arm off of the fallen steam golem's body.

"LUCY, LOOK ALIVE!"

The sound of Lincoln's urgent warning caused the the eight year old to snap her attention back to Baron in time to see it pull the spike out of its damaged eye. Injured, bloodied and now half blind, the savage experiment turned back toward Lucy with an eye brimming with rage and a growl promising her a more brutal death. But Lucy was undeterred by the threat. In fact, she gave a small smile as she crouched down on all fours, seemingly leaving herself wide open. Then, in a move that would've left Lincoln rolling on the floor laughing if the situation wasn't so dire, the eight year old goth taunted by gesturing a "come here" motion with her right hand. Sure enough, Baron accepted the invite and, with a roar, charged forward.

From Lincoln's perspective, he saw Baron run full steam ahead from the other side of the arena toward Lucy, who seemed to….not do anything. She just sat there, crouched and leaving herself.

The young goth still didn't react when Baron closed half the distance a second later. Lincoln started to get worried, as if he wasn't already. _'Sis, what are you doing? Are you planning on dodging again, If so, then why did you spend all that time getting that arm-'_

It was when Baron leapt toward her that Lucy finally reacted. And in that instance, Lincoln completely understood Lucy's intentions.

She had lured it into a trap.

Lucy's taunt and non-aggressive appearance distracted Baron from the fact that her six tentacles were still wrapped around the detached blade arm. All she had to do was simply goad the abominable monster into foolishly charging forward.

And goad it, she did. Along with the beast leaping, leaving it with no other direction to go but forward…

 _...it had sealed its fate._

As soon as Baron was a mere ten feet away from her, Lucy, with all the strength that her small body could muster, willed her tentacles to launch the blade arm forward.

Baron did not see it coming.

The blade arm speared dead center through the beast's chest, the blade end bursting out its back. Baron crashed back down to floor, crimson blood spilling from the wound as it howl with its last breaths and flailed in its death throes. As seconds pass, its spasms got weaker and weaker. Until finally, after letting loose a final roar with its final breath, the monster's movements stilled and its breathing stopped.

The Baron was dead.

Upon seeing the formidable creature meet its end, Lincoln felt the adrenaline wane in his veins, causing him to truly feel the extent of his injuries. The boy slumped against the wall, his sword vanishing as he slid down to the floor. Hearing his collapse, Lucy quickly ran back to his side.

" **Are you alright, brother?"** , she asked, concerned. The Loud boy responded with a pained deadpanned look while he clutched his damaged ribs with his only good arm, to which Lucy had the decency to look sheepish. **"Sorry. Dumb question."**

"Nah, 'tis alright. Thou art worried about me, is all. I'm just…*pained grunt*...glad thou hath survived.", replied Lincoln as he closed his eyes and rested his pounding head against the wall. "I must say, twas….a hellish trial we undertook."

" **Yes...Ind** eed, it was.", the goth said, her voice losing the it's ghostly edge and regaining a not-so monotone. The spikes on her arms and back, as well her tentacles, receded into her flesh. The dark grey armor that encased her arms and legs had also withdrew, revealing her pale skin once again. The only part that remained on her was the dark grey tail.

All of this did not escape the eleven year old's notice when he opened his eyes...and quickly averted his gaze toward the ceiling, slightly blushing as Lucy was still naked.

"...Monsters."

"Huh?"

"They've…..They've turned me…..us…..into monsters.", Lucy spoke, her tone wavering.

Lincoln's gaze turned back to his little sister. The girl's entire frame was trembling as she stared into her hands. He couldn't see her eyes due to her bangs, but he didn't need to in order to know that she was on the verge of crying and in a state of great shock, confusion and fear.

That, he could not let stand.

"Lucy...listen to me.", Lincoln spoke, grunting as he sat up straight and gave his full attention to the eight year old, modesty be damned. "We art not monsters."

"Yes, we are.", the whispered the goth, her hands wrapping around her body as her trembling grew more evident.

"No, we aren't."

"Yes, we are…"

"Lucy-", the boy began, reaching out with his right hand in an attempt to comfort her.

"IF WE'RE NOT MONSTERS, THEN WHAT DO YOU CALL WHAT I JUST DID!?", exclaimed Lucy, startling Lincoln and causing him to retract his hand slightly. "Before today, I didn't think I would ever be capable of doing harm to another another living thing, let alone kill it! Well, what just happened says otherwise! On top of that, look at me!"

Lucy then used her hands to part her bangs, putting her ghoulish white slitted eyes on full display as tears cascaded down her cheeks.

"Actually, look at me, Lincoln! You saw what happened to me earlier! For all intents and purposes, I should be dead! Matter of fact, I technically am! I can't feel my heartbeat anymore, yet here I am! I'm an affront to nature, brother! A slap in the face of the natural order! I'm no different than the beast lying dead in the middle of the floor right now! And if you had any shred of a sane mind, then you would stay as far away from me as possi-eep!

Lucy's speech was abruptly cut off when Lincoln suddenly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into him, her head laid on his chest as he wrapped his one good arm around her to hold the young girl close.

"Not. Another. Word", he spoke in a hushed tone that was brimming with emotion.

Hearing those words in such a way, Lucy turned her eyes upward to see her brother crying as well, but also sporting a look of loving understanding and steely resolve.

"Thou did what ye had to, dear sister.", Lincoln continued. "Like just how I had to protect thee from that giant robot, ye had to protect me from Baron. Twas merely self-defense, what ye did. Nothing more."

"B-but-", Lucy tried to counter, but the Man with the Plan wasn't done.

"As for being a monster, riddle me this: Dost thou knowth what separates ye from Baron?"

The goth was going to answer, but decided to hold her tongue. She wanted to hear what her brother had to say.

"Firstly, contrary to what ye may think, thou art as natural as can be. Naught is wrong about thee, Lucy. If thine heart is beating beat or not, matters little. Secondly, and most importantly…"

Lincoln tilted his head downward to gently press his forehead against Lucy's, looking deep into her tearful eyes as he laid a soothing hand on the top of her head.

" _...ye hath a mother….a father...a brother...and a slew of sisters who love thee, no matter what ye look like. No sister of mine could ever be a monster. 'Tis simply not true._ "

Upon those kind words from her beloved older brother, Lucy's dam broke and a river of tears flowed from her eyes, pressing her face into the eleven year old's chest and carefully wrapping her arms around his wounded body as powerful sobs wracked her body. Lincoln, despite his injuries, did as he always does and comforted his little sister, gently stroking and patting her head in the process. The scene, under different circumstance, would've been touching and heartfelt.

However, this was not meant to last. So caught in the emotional moment, that the two siblings failed to notice the vents lining along the arena walls expel clouds of white gas. They didn't feel the effects of the gas until it was too late.

"Lincoln….I'm scared...Why...are we….here?", spoke Lucy, her sobs growing quieter as a wave of sleepiness flooded her mind and body.

"I….I don't... know…..I don't….know….what…...they….want.", Lincoln slowly replied, suddenly feeling just as tired.

"Will...we ever…..be…...free?", the girl managed to say before her body went limp and her head rested against the boy's chest, fast asleep.

Lincoln found it difficult to answer her due his mind and body calling for him to close his eyes and rest. Yet, despite this, he found it within himself to give one last answer.

"We….will….Don't...know...when...but...we….will…..I…..pro…...mise….."

Just before the boy's eyes fully closed, a familiar voice echoed in his mind.

" _ **Thou hath proven thyself, young one. Indeed, 'tis time for thee to learn. About what ye and thine sisters have become…..and of the threat that lies beyond this realm."**_

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Finished! Arc complete! Nearly took me three months to push this out, but I did it for you guys!**

 **Why this took so long? Simple: In the first week of July, the Home Depot I was working at let me go. Their garden recovery season ended earlier than normal, so I couldn't continue working there anymore. So, yeah, back to job hunting. Which sucks. But, what can you do? On a good note, it means I get more time to work on this as a hobby, so that's something. But enough about my life.**

 **Lucy, freshly transformed, has defeated Baron. Unfortunately for the Loud kids, this is only the beginning of their captivity under the cruel hand of Tetherby. Now, seeing as how y'all are getting antsy for the action to REALLY start, I'm gonna grant your wish: TIME SKIP! I'll fast forward to one year later, which means the Loud kids will one year older. Plus, it is there that their fight for freedom begins. How that will happen? Keeping to find out.**

 **As always, tell me what you guys think by leaving a review.**

 **Catch ya later!**


	13. Scintillam

**The Loud Awakening**

 **Chapter 12: Scintillam**

 **Me: Oh boy, it's time. We're REALLY getting into this now.**

 **Inner Me: The beginning of the revolt. It's gonna be great!**

 **Me: Damn straight, it will be! Oh, and the chapter title is Latin, by the way.**

 **LiteralTrash001: …..A story done fast or a story done right. Pick one.**

 **LoudAutomata16: Thanks! I aim to please. At least, I try to. I'm sure there are PLENTY of NSL stories that focus on those two aspects(to the point where you get sick of it), so I figured I'd spin it into something unique and engaging.**

 **DreadedCandiru2: True….but you might want to keep reading to find out how.**

 **That Engineer: Same here. I've completely fallen out of the loop when it comes to Bleedman's works.**

 **The Keeper of Worlds: *winks***

 **Alright, enough chit-chat. Story time!**

* * *

 _One year later…_

The sun rises, once again.

Trees grow. Birds fly.

In some parts of the world, life is just beginning. Yet, in other parts, life has just ended.

All in all, much can happen in three hundred sixty five days, three hundred sixty six if you count a leap year.

Sadly, for the lives of the ten children that are imprisoned within the bowels of the T.W.D.D, life has changed so profoundly that it would make one's head spin off their body and straight up into space. Indeed, life for Lincoln and his nine sisters, under the cold machinations of Dr. Singed and the tyrannical eye of Tetherby, has been one filled with pain and hopelessness. For days, weeks and months on end, the Loud siblings' daily routine was a seemingly endless harsh cruelty: experiments that battered their body and mind, forced fights against deadly automatons and freakish beasts, treated like an abomination by the other scientists and guards, the list goes on. And yet, all of that _wasn't_ the worst part.

The siblings could take a year with no New Year's, no 4th of July, no Halloween, no Thanksgiving, no Christmas or any other major holiday. They could take the unkind and grueling conditions made by Lord Tetherby.

They could take it all….. _if they could just see each other._

Ever since Lincoln and Lucy's encounter with the steam golem and Baron, the siblings were had ZERO contact with each other. Every test, every fight and every experiment a Loud ever did in that year's time, they did it alone. Under these conditions, the children couldn't support each other. Couldn't reassure one another. Couldn't drive each other to hold on to hope.

 _Couldn't see if the others were alive or not._

That unbearable aspect of their plight was the worst thing about all of this.

And so, the children began to lose hope and give up. Even Lincoln, the stalwart emotional core of the Louds, could feel his will to persevere wither and fade. In their minds, they prayed and begged for any opportunity to finally break out of their prison. All they needed…

 _...was a spark._

* * *

 _T.W.D.D, 25th Floor: Data Collection and Storage, 3:45 P.M._

A tall, spiky brown haired young man in lab coat was down a hallway, nose deep in his clipboard writing notes as he made his toward the elevators. Suddenly, one of hatches that lined the walls of the hallway opened up and a hand reached out and grabbed the man. Before he could say anything, he yanked into an empty office and the hatch hissed shut behind him.

"What the hell!? What gives!?", he exclaimed before whirling around to see the person who snatched him out of the blue, only to breath a mixed sigh of relief and dismay when his sight was met by a young woman wearing a lab coat as well, sporting black reading glasses, a well-endowed chest, long crimson hair tied in a long ponytail, long legs and a worried yet determined demeanor on her lovely face.

"Faye! Geez, don't do that! You know I don't like it when you surprise me like that!", the man criticized.

"Well, how else was I going to get your attention, Zed? From the way you were staring into your notes, nothing short of a meteorite landing on your head would break your focus.", the woman said in witty response.

Zed Carmine and Faye Li were childhood friends turned high school and college sweethearts at the ages of 24 and 23, respectively. The two were the literal definition of 'polar opposites': Faye was a idealistic, glass half full, wore-her-heart-on-a-sleeve optimist while Zed was a down-to-earth, glass half empty, let-me-tell-you-why-you're-wrong skeptic. Faye liked techno and pop while Zed listened to jazz and classical. She was a early bird, he was a night owl. Yet, despite their differences, the two were attracted to each other. It also helped that one of the very few things they had in common was their love of biology. The career field was what they majored when they graduated amongst the top of their class at the University of Colorado and, ultimately, what helped land them a job as scientists at the Tetherby Weapons and Defense Department a year ago. Initially, thing were going great for the unlikely duo. So great that they were good enough to gain high level clearance to the lower floors, where the more secretive projects were being worked on.

Then, things started to go downhill very quickly.

It started when the two learned about living biological weapons and the so-called "Living Failures", shaking Faye's belief in what they were doing and causing Zed to starting questioning their employer's intentions.

Then, some time later, they were given clearance to work in the lowest level, where the latest and most top secret project was conducted: The EVO Program.

What they saw down there broke their hearts.

 _Children. They were experimenting on children, some as young as four years old._

Faye was there when Singed conducted the first field test, using two of the children and forcing them to fight a steam golem and a biological weapon. When said biological weapon tore apart an eight year old girl, she promptly fainted. The sight of such a horrific and violent scene was what broke the proverbial back of Faye's tolerance and thusly declared that she would not let any of what she saw down there stand. And with that declaration, she gained an idea.

An **insane** idea, as Zed appropriately stated when Faye later confided to him.

"So have you thought about it?", Faye asked.

"Yes, I have.", replied Zed in a no nonsense tone. "I stand by what I said when you first told me of this plan: It's dangerous and stupid."

"Dammit, Zed-", the red head initially yelled before lowering her volume as to not draw attention. "We have to do something!"

"Like what!? Go with your idea!? Faye, actually think abo-"

"I **HAVE** thought about it and, like you, I stand by my decision!"

"Have you!?", the brown-haired man retorted in low volume, doubt brimming in his voice. "Have you actually considered the consequences of taking such actions!? You and I have seen, firsthand, of what these kids are capable of! Should I talk about the teenager who can cause a firestorm in a few seconds or the little girl who can whip up a small-scale blizzard!? Or how about the one girl who can collapse this **ENTIRE** mountain on top of us if she knew how!? These kids are walking natural disasters, Faye! And your idea is for you and I to help **free** them!?"

"Would you rather they suffer and die here, instead?"

And just like that the argument was over as Zed stood there stunned, speechless as Faye stared dead into his eyes with the most serious look he had ever seen her where in recent memory. He sighed in defeat. When in comes to matters of the heart, she always manages to win him over. Skeptical and pessimistic, he may be.

But heartless? Far from it.

"Faye….this plan has so many things that could go wrong. More than lose our jobs, we could be sent to prison. Or worse, killed. Knowing that, you still want to do this?", Zed spoke, trying one last time to convince his girlfriend to reconsider.

"More than ever, I do.", answered Faye as she walked up to her man and took his hands into hers. "I'm aware of the dangers that are to come. They only make this all the more worth it. Please, Zed. I can't do this without you."

The young man's hazel eyes stared into the woman's green for a few tense moments before letting loose a sigh of resignation.

"...Alright. I'm in."

Faye had hold back a squeal of delight as she threw her arms around her lover's shoulders and drew him in for a warm kiss before pulling back slighty.

"Thank you, sweetie! Now I know this plan will work, for sure!"

"Don't thank me just yet, hon. I still have doubts about all of this.", he commented as he put his hands on the woman's hips. "For starters, how are we even gonna pull this off?"

"Oh, that? Simple, really. Matter of fact, the only thing that was difficult about this plan was the timing, which will soon no longer be an issue."

Zed raised a curious yet suspicious eyebrow at this statement. "Really? Why's that?"

"Do you know what's coming up in a few days?", queried Faye.

Zed had to think for a few moments before a look of realization showed on his visage. "Oh, yeah. Tetherby's birthday is coming up soon."

"Correct.", she said with smirk. "And, in his flash of generosity, has given most of the T.W.D.D's staff time off to enjoy the festivities, which will no doubt be extravagant. As far as I know, only security personnel are to remain at their posts and continue their duties."

"Which means all the other scientists won't be down here and only a few guards and soldiers will remain.", inputted Zed, connecting the dots. "Okay, that makes us less likely to get caught. But, how are we going to actually going to break those kids out?"

"I'm getting there. While everyone is away at the party, that is when we make our move. As you know, all EVO Program containment cells cannot be opened unless you access them through one of two ways: either you go to each of the laboratories where one cell each is located and use an access code, each lab having a different code, to unlock the cells….OR you go to the 49th floor, where the Main Security Room is, and unlock all of the cells through the main computer there. All we need to do is get into that room."

"...Huh.", said Zed, impressed. "You really thought this through, have you?"

"In circumstances like these, I don't play around, Zed.", Faye responded, with a touch of sass.

"Alright, then. Riddle me this: I know, for a fact, that there are three guards manning that room. How are we gonna get past them? I **severely** doubt we can convince through heart-to-heart and they can easily overpower the both of us."

To that, Faye only smiled as she got onto her toes and whispered in her man's ear. When she was done, Zed sharply pulled his head back, eyes wide with shock….and disapproval.

"Absolutely not!", he proclaimed.

"And why not?", quipped Faye with a raised eyebrow.

"Why not!? One, you don't even NEED to do that! And two, there's no way in hell they would be gullible enough for that to actually…"

* * *

 _Three days later…_

 _Main Security Room, 49th Floor of T.W.D.D, 5:15 P.M._

"...work."

Yet, there he stood alongside Faye, eating his own words as they now stood before the main computer. Around them were the unconscious bodies of the guards, one of which had fallen out of his chair.

"And you had the nerve to doubt me.", Faye scoffed as she slid into a chair and began typing on the computer.

"Well, excuse me for not completely believing that any of this would fall through.", countered Zed. "Especially when we got _this_ part of the plan, though I didn't not expect the Trojan Horse stunt you pulled by giving them those spiked cupcakes."

"And a pretty face. Guys tend to lower their guard at that, you know."

"Deceptive yet effective. Didn't know you had that in you."

"Makes one wonder where I got that from."

Zed let loose a good chuckle before turning his attention to the wall in front of them. A massive plasma monitor took up three quarters of the wall and stretched completely across its length. On its screen, it displayed ten smaller screens, which showed live recordings from the cameras within the ten labs in the floor below them. There, he saw all ten Louds trapped within their cells. A few were sleeping on their plain beds. Others were, more or less, sitting despondently in various parts of their cells. They were utterly miserable….but they won't be for long.

"Aaaand….There!"

Faye's exclamation caused Zed to turn his gaze downward to see what the woman had done. On the computer screen, a message read:

 _ **Warning:**_

 _ **Confirmation will cause all EVO Program Containment Cells to be unlocked.**_

 _ **Do you still wish to proceed?**_

 _ **Yes / No**_

"Alright…", began Faye as she took in a shaking breath. "...This is it."

Just as her hand grasped the mouse, another hand gently landed on top of hers. She looked at the hand before looking up to see Zed, with eyes filled with love and support, along with great apprehension.

"Faye….are you absolutely certain about? We do this, there's no going back and all manner of hell **WILL** break loose."

For a moment, the young redhead shifted her eyes to floor, almost seemingly having second thoughts. What if Zed's right? What if things did wrong? Were the kids so badly mistreated that they don't **want** to escape, even if the offer was right in front of their face? Were they now mindless killing machines that will destroy any living thing presented to them? Will-

The woman shook her head to rid herself of her hesitation and worry, taking a deep breath before returning Zed's look with her own resolved look.

"Those kids….deserve both freedom and justice. What happens next may bring joy and hope. It may bring fear and horror. I honestly don't know….but what I do know is this: Tetherby….and anyone who ever contributed to their prolonged suffering…. _they all had it coming._ "

Zed gazed into Faye's eyes for a few seconds before, with a smirk and a nod, moved the mouse to hover over the ' _ **Yes**_ ' option.

Then, as one…

 **Click.**

* * *

 _Lincoln's Cell, 50th Floor of the T.W.D.D_

 **BEEP! HSSSSSS-CHINK!**

The familiar sound of his cell door opening roused Lincoln from his nap. As he rose in his white t-shirt and sweats and rubbed the sand out of his eyes, the boy shifted his body so that he was sitting on his mattress, his bare feet touching the cold tile floor. The light in his eyes were dim, a visage of waning hope evident on his features. Slowly, he rose his head and looked into….the audience?

"Were….were ye fellows always there?", Lincoln asked through the fourth wall before giving a withered chuckle as flash of recognition flashed in his eye. "Ah...now I remember. Ye were always there. To think I would forget about thee…..Then again, given the circumstances, it would maketh sense."

The white-haired boy gave a sad smile toward the audience before it vanished and his eyes went to the floor.

"I honestly can't tell thee how long I hath spent in this woeful place. Time hath lost its grip on me. Were I to guess, I'd say a year has passed, though it feels more like an eternity. I'm older, of that I am sure of. I wonder how….h-how…."

Lincoln laid a hand on his face as tears sprang in the corners of his eyes.

" _...H-h-how the…*sniff*... g-girls have g-grown…_ "

For the next 2 minutes, Lincoln quietly cried to himself. He refused to believe that any of his beloved sisters were dead, but after going through what felt like a year without them…..he was starting to give in. Wiping his tears away as he calmed himself, he turned toward his cell door, where he was expecting several guards to come in and keep him restrained, as well as keep his powers inhibited. Dr. Singed, through experiments and tests, had complied enough data and research to come to an strong understanding of how Lincoln's powers worked, therefore creating and implementing proper countermeasures to keep the boy under control.

However, there was no guard or scientist to greet him at the door. In fact, with the exception of his cell, the entire lab was dark, indicating that there was no else inside the room besides him.

Just him and an…open…...cell…..door…

…..

Lincoln suddenly found himself standing straight up, his wide eyes staring at the open door as his blood roared in his ears and his heartbeat picking up a rapid pace. Feelings of fear, confusion and….,dare he say, hope filled within him.

' _Is….is this for real?'_ , he thought to himself as he cautiously walked toward the door. Upon reaching the door's threshold, he froze.

Then, he took another step. He now stood outside of the lab cell he spent a year of his life in, fully expecting anything or anyone to attack him.

Yet, nothing happened.

As he walked down the small set of stairs and into the darkness of the lab, Lincoln could no longer contain the elated smile that stretched across his face. Life flowed once more into his eyes, both figuratively and literally as light began to glow from his pupils. He couldn't believe it! He was free!

HE WAS FREE!

 **HE WAS FREE!**

 **HE WAS…** …

…

He was….. _free?_

His elation deflated, replaced by paranoia and alarm. This **can't** be real.

' _This HAS to be some new kind of test. Has to be! If it wasn't, then why would they just let me out, unguarded? That makes no sense!'_ , he thought to himself as he crept his way through the empty lab, a glowing sphere of whitish-gold light floating in the palm of his right hand illuminating his path toward the exit. _'Unless…..this isn't a test. Has something happened? Ugh, too much is happening to fast. I just don't know and I can't be too sure that this is really happening. Even so, if this even_ _ **remotely**_ _means what I dared to think it means…'_

A few steps later, Lincoln had found the lab's exit.

' _...then my sisters will be doing what I'm doing right now.'_

With that hopeful thought, he strode forward, the automated door before him splitting and sliding open, allowing him to leave the lab behind before sliding itself shut. Now outside of his prison, Lincoln took a moment to view his new surroundings. Due to the fact that he was blindfolded everytime he was taken out of his cell, this was the first time he had actually seen anything outside of the lab. He now stood in a large curving corridor. All was dark except for the low yellowish-white glow of the hallway lights that lined along the bases of the walls. With glowing sphere still in hand, he turned to his right and began walking.

' _Hmmm...I must walking along the edges of this particular place.'_ , the boy thought to himself. Soon enough, he came upon an intersection of converging hallways, a walkway in front of him as well as to his sides. He decided to keep straight. However, soon after that, his glowing ball of light brightened the path before him and he saw that he was about to come up to another intersection. _'Ugh, this place is becoming a maze at this rate. How am I suppose to find-'_

 **Tap.**

Lincoln froze mid-step and mid-thought. Was that-

 **Tap.**

 _Footsteps. Coming from the left hallway._

 **Tap tap….Tap tap...tap…**

Th white-haired boy immediately extinguished his glowing sphere and planted his back to the wall as he now heard _two_ pairs of footsteps from around the corner.

' _Dammit, I knew it! This is a test! They let me out just so they can release a few monsters and see how I do in this new environment. Why they would change the formula like this, I don't know but I guess it really doesn't matter. Either way, it looks like I got a fight on my hands.'_

With that in mind, Lincoln crept along the wall's surface toward the corner. As he got nearer, the footsteps on the other side stopped and a duet of new sounds made itself known.

"*Sniff*...*Sniff sniff*... **Grrrrrrrrrrr…** "

" **Hiiisssssss…** "

Lincoln took a deep breath as willed a short sword into his right hand. They knew he was there. Whatever this beastly duo were, they sounded canine and feline in nature. Probably some horrible fusion of a cat-dog hybrid, he figured. Not wasting anymore time, Lincoln swiftly whirled around the corner, ready to face his potential deadly adversaries. But before he could raise his sword, one of his opponents launched themselves into his chest, tackling him to the ground. Quickly getting his bearings, the boy formed a ball of light in his left hand and pointed it at the monst-

Lincoln felt his heart skip a beat as the ball of light shined and revealed the face of his enemy.

Said enemy froze as well…..as _she_ got a good look of what she tackled into.

Her hands were covered in blonde fur. She had wolf-like ears on the top of her head and he barely registered the wolf-like tail that was wagging behind her. She had blue eyes, fair skin, shoulder-length blonde hair….

…. _and two missing front teeth._

"L….L….L-Lincoln?"

 _And he'd recognize that voice anywhere._

"Lana?", he whispered.

A gasp off to side drew the boy's attention to his right. Standing there was a near spitting image of Lana, only with cat-like ears, two cat-like tails curling slowly behind her, blue eyes with vertically slitted oval-shaped pupils and blonde hair that reached the middle of her back. Her furry hands covering her mouth as tears already ran down her cheeks.

"Lola?"

For a moment, there was silence.

Then…

"LINCOLN!", the twins screamed with tearful elation as they both glomped their beloved big brother back down to the ground, pressing their tear-flooded faces into his chest as they hugged him like he would instantly vanish if they let go. Lincoln felt very much the same as he had long since banished his sword and light sphere, holding his dear little sisters close as he rubbed their heads in affection and pressed his crying yet happy face into their hair.

"Lincoln!...*sob*...L-Lincoln!", sobbed Lana, snuggling closer to his chest.

"W-we…*sniff*...we t-t-thought…*hic*...you…*sob*...and o-others...d-d-d…", Lola blubbered, unable to finish her sentence before succumbing to her emotions once more.

"I know….*sniff*...I know. I felt the same. But I'm here now. Dost thou hear me? I'm here.", reassured Lincoln, his brotherly instincts in overdrive as he comforted the twins.

Then, just when he thought this couldn't get any better…

"Lana!? Lola!? Like, was that you!?"

"Leni!? Where are you!?"

"Dudes, hollar so I can find you!"

"Older siblings units, where are you located!?"

Throughout the entire floor, Lincoln could hear the voices of his other sisters, calling out and trying to find each other. They needed a rallying point, a beacon. Momentarily lifting in his right hand off of Lola's head, he willed another light sphere into being before tossing it up into the air. The sphere, in tune with Lincoln current emotions, exploded with brightness, its whitish-gold radiance banishing the darkness from the surrounding hallways like a miniature star.

"Follow the light!", Lincoln happily yelled out before returning to his task of comforting Lana and Lola. Soon, rapidly approaching footsteps could be heard. Then, a hug from behind him. Somewhat scaly, but all the more welcome. Another hug came from his left, this one he felt feathers from. One by one, all the sisters came to lustering beacon and join in the growing group hug that consisted of flesh, fur, scales and even metal.

A million questions ran rampant in his mind, but they can wait.

For what Lincoln thought would never happen...just happened:

 _The Loud siblings were reunited._

* * *

 **Author's Notes: It all starts here! Thanks to some outside help, the Loud kids are out of their cells and are back together again! But they still have ways to go before they're truly out of the woods! It's go time, Loud style, in the next chapter!**

 **As always, leave a review and tell me what y'all think!**

 **Catch ya later!**


	14. First Blood

**The Loud Awakening**

 **Chapter 13: First Blood**

 **That Engineer: And once again….I make references that I wasn't even trying to make. -_-**

 **WordFighter: What do you think this is, Doom? Goblin Slayer?**

 **He23t: Don't you mean….upMOUNTAIN? *Dodges several thrown shoes* Oh, so Luan can dish'em out, but I can't!?**

 **Gamelover41592: Yes, they are. If they want to be** _ **truly**_ **free, however, they're gonna have to fight for it.**

 **Keeper of Worlds: Remember a few chapters ago when I said how most of the Loud sisters were now more in tune with their bestial side? Well, your question is about to be answered right now.**

 **Recommended Battle Music:** _ **Faint - Linkin Park**_

* * *

World War 3 could've started and plunged the world into a nuclear winter and the Loud children still wouldn't have noticed due to how overjoyed they were to finally see each other. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and this was certainly no exception. The reunited group hug lasted for a whole a ten minutes before they broke it up. As they happily wiped away their tears, Lincoln took a moment to finally, for the first time since he last saw them a year ago, get a good look at his altered sisters.

The girls' attire was similar to his, with the older girls wearing white tank tops and sweats while the younger girls wore plain white t-shirts and sweats. In terms of height, the older sisters were the most radically changed, ranging from Lynn being almost a head taller than him to Lori, literally and metaphorically, towering over them. As for the younger half, there was no forced growth spurt that the boy could discern from his little sisters, other than the fact that they naturally gained an inch or two due to them now being one year older. Another changed physical aspect he noticed in his big siblings, with a growing blush, were their... **chests**. Lori and Leni were quite endowed, their white tank tops showing a bit of a strain. Luna's were a bit on the ample side as well, in contrast to Luan's smaller but perkier assests and Lynn's were now noticeable. The sporty Loud also now had a slightly darker skin tone, something akin to a healthy tan.

Other that that, the most obvious physical changes were those that Lincoln was already aware of: Lori and Lynn had reptilian scales on their arms, legs and various part of their bodies, the elder blonde having sky blue scales and large wings while the brunette gaining dark red scales a flaming tail. Leni had scales as well, but aquamarine in color and more akin to a fish than a reptile, as well a sleek tail with a flipper on the end. Luna's arms and legs were covered with brown fur, along with a fluffy tail. Luan had large wings for arms, consisting of light brown feathers, with bird-like legs and a long tail feather. Lucy was still as he last saw her a year ago, right down to her long spiky tail. Lola and Lana both had their arms and legs covered in blonde fur, each having feline and canine features respectively. Lisa, aside from himself, was the most seemingly unchanged out of all of them and would've fooled Lincoln if it wasn't for the fact that her eyes had no pupils and her irises had a solid bright emerald glow, the whites of her eyes having numerous faintly glowing lines that looked like circuits and wires if one were to look more closely.

The girls, for their part, had come to similar conclusions about each other, as well as getting a good once-over of their only brother. He grew slightly, gaining an two inches or so. He also lost some baby fat as his arms were a tad more defined, showing a bit of his lean muscles. His snow white hair had become shaggy, though his iconic turkey tail was still ever present, much to the girls' delight.

"You…*sniff*...you guys have literally no idea how glad I am to see you all again.", spoke Lori, relief and joy evident in her voice as she wiped away her tears with a scaly finger.

"Feeling's mutual, dude." said Luna, her emotions much like Lori's. "Though, like Ziggy Stardust, we all went through some changes."

"That's putting it way too mildly, Luna.", Lucy stated in monotone.

"Aye to that. Some of us were changed more drastically than the others, I'm afraid.", concurred Lincoln. Now that the emotional high of their reunion was subsiding, the girls quickly noticed one of Lincoln's most altered aspects.

"Ummm, Linky?", Leni began, confusion in her voice. "Your voice is, like, different."

"Yeah, you sound like you're on the set of _Hamlet_.", Lynn inputted.

"Hark? What matter of mine vo-...Oh, right. Most of ye aren't even aware of this.", replied Lincoln, facepalming himself before giving an explanation. "Yes, this be my new way of speech. And before ye ask, no, I cannot turn it off and I only began speaking like this _after_ the Orb ordeal."

"Wait, you said most of us. Who else knew?", queried Lori with a raised eyebrow.

"Besides that mad scientist, Singed? Lucy.", the white-haired boy answered. All eyes turned to the young goth, who nodded in confirmation.

"It's true. It was during one of their 'tests' a month after they captured us when I heard Lincoln speak.", Lucy spoke before showing a small smile. "I found it quite fitting for him."

"As do I!", cheered Lola as she hugged her brother by the waist. "As if being back together didn't make this the best day ever, Linky speaking like a proper knight is just icing on the chocolate cake!"

Lincoln almost flinched by how close to home her innocent comment had been, but he hid his reaction well and chuckled as he affectionately rubbed Lola's head.

"I shall always be thine knight, milady.", he played along, to which the two-tailed blonde squealed with delight and hugged him all the more tighter.

"Oddly enough, I'm quickly growing fond of that voice, too. Quite the riveting _Shakespearence_ , no?, quipped Luan. Usually, a Luan-delivered pun like that would earn the usual collective groan, but after going so long without hearing one of her crummy jokes and wordplays, the siblings responded with snickers and even giggles. All of which almost made the comedian cry with happiness again. "*sniff*...I missed you guys, so much."

"We all have, dear elder sibling of mine. And Lincoln is not the only one who went through a change in vocals."

The siblings jumped slightly at the very _cybernetic_ voice, the source of which coming from…

"Lisa?", began Lana, surprised and in awe. "Whoa! Your voice sounds totally different, too! "

"I am very well aware of the fact, Lana.", Lisa replied as she adjusted her glasses. "Much like our brother, I, too, did not gained this unique...accent, per say, until after they implanted those Orbs within us."

"I think it's safe to assume that none of us gained any….", Lynn began before raising her hand, her clawed pointer finger extended. From the tip of her claw, a small flame flickered into existence. "... _perks_ 'til after they did that."

Seeing the jock's demonstration, the girls looked at each other for a moment before each of them deciding to show their own examples of their powers. Lisa, to the astonishment of her siblings, mechanically transformed her right arm into what appeared to be a blaster, the end of which giving off a green glow. Lola formed a small ice ball between her paws. Lana, thinking of no better way to show it, sprung forth a stool-size slab of stone, destroying part of the floor as she sat on it. Lucy simply stood there as swirling clouds of darkness orbited her body. Luan's hair blew lightly as weak wind currents enveloped around her. Purple sparks of electricity could seen arching throughout Luna. A tendril of water slithered down Leni's left arm, weaving through her fingers like sewing needle. Last but not least, Lori's clawed hand gave off an almost _ethereal_ blue hue, the carved runes on her her scaly arm glowing the same color.

"To no one's surprise, great. Literally almost all of us look like the missing cast from _Monster Mash_ and we all have weird powers.", sighed Lori, ending her demonstration as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Where do I even begin with all of this?"

As she made that statement, Lincoln looked off to the side, eyes narrowed in contemplation. Should he tell them about Krieg? About the dreams that he has seen? Confessing them would make it seem like he's gone mad, but seeing as how the entire situation was already insane as it is…

"Girls, may I ask thee something?", announced the male Loud, gaining his sisters' attention.

"State your query, brother.", Lisa acknowledged.

"Hath any….", he hesitated before taking deep breath and continuing. "Hath any of thee, by chance, encountered-"

Lincoln's question would go unfinished as he noticed Lola and Lana's ears immediately perk up and their heads snapping toward the corridor behind them.

"Lola? Lana? What-"

"SHHH!", urged Lola, silencing him as she spoke in a whisper. "We heard something."

"Heard what, dudes? I don't hear a- Wait a sec….", Luna began to counter, but then her own ears perked up and she toward the direction the twins were facing, her eyes narrowing. "Hey, I...I hear it, too."

Now on high alert, the siblings gathered around Luna and the twins, the trio almost as if trying to see _through_ the walls to get picture of what they were hearing.

"Like, what are you guys hearing?", asked Leni, feeling anxious.

"Not sure, but I think it's rumbling. A lot of rumbling.", Lana answered as her ears twitched, Lola and Luna nodding in confirmation.

In response, Lisa stepping in between the twins, her irises dilating to take up her entire eye sockets and glowing green. The sight before her vision turned into a world of transparent, holographic images, allowing the genius to see the layout of the entire floor and through the walls of the various corridors. After a few seconds of scanning, her gaze stopped on a peculiar dead end. Peculiar because this dead end had wide vertical column that reached beyond the floor's layout, almost as if it was a…!

"Lana, this rumbling wouldn't happen to sound like some large mechanical apparatus moving, would it?", inquired Lisa, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah, it actually does sound like that. Why'd you ask?"

"Because I may have just found the elevators.", the prodigy answered.

"You found the elevators!? Awesome, that means we can get out of here!", exclaimed Lynn, the flames on her tail rising with her mood.

"I strongly doubt it's that simple. Lisa, what else do you see?", said Lori, suspicious and not at all believing in an easy escape.

"You are correct to be weary, eldest sibling, because I do see three separate elevators making their way down as we speak.", Lisa replied.

"Do you see what's inside of them?"

"Soldiers. I count 30 in total."

The siblings felt a cold pit of foreboding form in the base of their stomachs upon hearing those words. The feeling only became more prevalent when Lisa turned back toward them, eyes returning to their original state as she gave a serious glare.

"... **and they're armed.** "

* * *

' _Man, I got a really bad feeling about this.'_

This was the particular thought that ran through the mind of one Blake Garza, a Private ranked grunt of Tetherby's established army of freelanced soldiers and mercs. Honestly, this career was very much not up his alley, but, at the time, he was dire straits and in desperate need of of a job so he had no other choice. Quite frankly, he didn't think he would see any kind of action around these parts, seeing as how the T.W.D.D was an isolated research base located at the foot of the highest mountain in the Rocky Mountain range. Yet, here he was, standing amongst others of his rank, decked in state of the art military armor while armed with stun batons and tranq rifles, packed in elevators like sardines as they made their way to the bottom floor. Soon enough, the elevator stopped and its doors opened, allowing the soldiers to step out. More men poured out of the other two elevators as well, until all 30 troops stood or kneeled in the area, their captain standing in front of them to debrief them.

"Alright, fellas, listen up.", he began firmly. "Thirty minutes ago, Security put out an alert throughout the T.W.D.D facility that the project assets of the Evo Program have, somehow, been freed. As some of you are aware, our boss was **NOT** happy."

Some of the soldiers, Blake included, visibly cringed at that statement. The wealthy businessman was in the middle of cutting his cake when the news reached his ears. The fact that today was his birthday only worsened his later reaction. Later because, when he initially received the word, he was among esteemed guests, one of which being General Esker who had come to see the progress of Tetherby's prized projects. He, with barely an ounce of calm dignity, had excused himself before retreating to his office. What he did when he got there, no one knows but there was a rumor going around that he had thrown two armchairs out of his office suite window, though this was never confirmed.

"Thankfully, that was the bad news.", the captain continued. "The good news is that, according to recent reports, the assets haven't attempted to escape yet, which is where we come in. Our mission is to locate, incapacitate and return the projects back to their original holding cells. Obviously, this is easier said than done. The assets are powerful and extremely dangerous, so don't drop your guard for a second down and stay near each other. As soon as you see one, DO NOT hesitate and take them down."

"Err, captain? What happens if we're unable to tranq'em and they start to overwhelm us?", a grunt kneeling beside Blake asked.

"I highly doubt that seeing as how we outnumber them three to one, but if it does come down to that….", the captain replied with sigh. "...I don't care how valuable these projects are to Tetherby, if we're unable to control them….then just kill'em. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir!", his troops responded, seeing no fault in that logic.

"Alright. Now, I want five-"

The captain's statement was interrupted when the lights suddenly cut off, plunging the entire floor into darkness. Unsettled murmurs spread throughout the soldiers in reaction to this abrupt development.

"Settle down, men. I'll see what's going on.", ordered the captain as he pressed two fingers to his right ear. "Control, this is Captain Davidson of the Asset Retrieval Squad. All the lights just went out down here. Was that you?"

" **Negative, Captain."** , a female voice responded into his ear. **"We had nothing to do with it. According to our scans, something down there caused a blackout in the 50th floor. We're guessing R.A.I.J.U. had a hand in that, but you're going to have to begin the mission in the dark, unfortunately."**

"Fuck…", Davidson cursed under his breath before turning back toward his men. "Night goggles on, boys. We're doing this in the dark. Once you're set, I want five teams of six. Team Alpha and Bravo, you'll check the left hallways. Charlie and Delta, you'll take the right. I'll lead Echo up the middle. Let's get this done, gentlemen!"

A minute later, once they were all equipped and in their correct positions, Davidson gave the order and the five teams began to slowly make their way through the darkened corridors, checking from floor to ceiling for any sign of their mission objectives. After ten minutes of tense searching, Davidson held up and closed fist, signaling to Blake and the others to halt.

"Something's not right. Ten minutes and we still haven't found these damn freaks.", growled the captain, now feeling a tad paranoid as he pressed his earpiece. "All teams, check in."

" **Alpha Team, all present and accounted for."** , responded the team's leader over the radio.

" **Bravo Team, same here."**

" **Charlie Team, ditto."**

…..

"Delta Team, check in."

…..

"Team Delta, do you read me?"

…..

"Oh, for fuck's sake...Charlie, go over to Delta and find what the hell is up with their comms!", growled Davidson, now frustrated. Meanwhile, the bad feeling Blake had at the start of this mission had only gotten stronger at this point and he couldn't help but feel like they were being watched…..

Actually, it didn't feel like they were being watched. No, it felt more like being…. _stalked._

" **Roger that. Heading over to- whoa, hold on a sec."** , spoke Team Charlie's leader. **"Sir, I...I think we found one of them."**

"You think? Describe.", barked the captain.

" **It's a boy. White hair, about twelve years old from the looks of it. And….wait…..what the hell, is he holding a poleaxe!?"**

Davidson felt his heart drop into his stomach as a giant red flag blared through his brain.

"That's Project _D.A.W.N_! Take him down!"

" **Holy shit, where did he go!? The kid was right-GAACK!"** , the leader of Charlie began before the sound of flesh being cut into interrupted him. Soon after that, the sound of gunfire and men screaming could be heard, not just from the captain's earpiece, but all around the members of Team Echo. Ringing through the darkness that now filled the entire floor, more screams and gunfire could be heard from the surrounding corridors, along with strange noises such as gushing water, roaring flames and tumbling rocks.

"And we are officially now in a clusterfuck.", Blake commented to himself, filled with fright as he and the other three soldiers looked toward their captain for any hope to get out of this alive.

"God dammit, they must've set up an ambush! I don't know how these freaks knew we were coming, but it really doesn't matter now! Men, we need to…..", Davidson began as turned toward his troops, but trailed off as he noticed _someone_ standing behind them a few yards away. Blake and the others, confused by their leader's actions, turned around as well….and was promptly flabbergasted. There, standing at the intersection where they had just past….

… **.stood Lori.**

"Freaks, are we?", she growled, baring her sharp teeth as the runes on her scales and slitted eyes glowed an eerie blue.

"PUT HER DOWN!", hollered Davidson as he raised his tranq rifle and opened fire, Blake and other men following suit.

Unfazed, Lori brought her right wing forward, shielding herself as the bullets deflected off of her scales without leaving a scratch. Soon, to the men's horror, their rifles clicked empty. Hearing this, the young woman leapt forward, her right wing still in front. Davidson and Blake had enough foresight to hit the deck, but the other three weren't so fortunate. One grunt was on the unlucky side of Lori swinging her wing in a horizontal sweep with enough force to send him flying into a wall, the impact breaking his neck and killing him instantly. In that same second, Lori swung the back of her fist into the temple of another ill-fated soldier's head, knocking him completely off of his feet and onto the ground. Not breaking her motion, she then lifted her right foot and stomped on the center of the downed man's chest, shattering his ribcage and crushing his vital organs. Blood erupted from the grunt's mouth as he quickly expired to his injuries. The third soldier, seeing this, was in the process of pulling out his pistol when Lori's serrated tipped tail surged forward and sliced the man's throat, severing the jugular. A fountain of blood painted the hallway walls as the grunt futilely tried to stem the bleeding with his hands, but soon fell to the ground and weakly flailed about before ceasing all struggle and joining his teammates in death.

Blake, at this point, had pissed himself in terror as this scaled monster of a woman single handedly took out three soldiers without breaking a sweat. And they were suppose to recapture all ten of **these**!?

' _Fuck that!'_ , the Private thought to himself, now fully intent on getting the hell out of there. His captain, on the other hand…

"You monstrous she-bitch!", Davidson yelled as he drew his pistol, but before he could fire off a shot, Lori raised her right hand in front of her, her runes glowing brightly. The captain shot every bullet he had at the young woman, but none of them found their. Instead, they merely floated still in midair, inches away from the palm of Lori's hand. The captain was stunned by this unnatural feat.

"After everything you people have done to me and my siblings, you still have the gall to call me monstrous? Now that's funny.", the eldest Loud sister spoke, venomous sarcasm ripe in her voice as she, with a wave and flick of her clawed finger, turned the bullets around and fired them back at Davidson.

' _Shit…'_ , was the captain's last thought before a bullet bore into his skull. Two more nestled into his heart while the rest pierced through his chest as he fell to ground, dead. Giving a slight growl, Lori then turned to deal with the last soldier of Team Echo, but found that he was no longer there.

Indeed, while she was busy taking out members of his team, Blake had managed to slip away and was now running for his life back toward the elevators. As the last sounds of conflict died down, the grunt began seeing what had happened to the other soldiers and the sight of their bodies only made him run faster. Electrocuted, burned, limbs sliced off, frozen in blocks of ice, impaled by spires of stone. All of this and more were what greeted Blake's night vision goggles as he turned the final corner and was now only a few yards away from salvation when he felt something sharp slice through both his right and left achilles tendons.

"GAH!", the grunt yelped in pain as fell to ground, breaking his goggles in the process. Crippled and in pain, Blake threw away his now useless vision equipment and began crawling toward the elevators. He didn't get far before he heard a pair of growls and two barely visible shapes in the darkness jumped in front of him, blocking his chance of escape. Then, suddenly, the floor's electricity was restored, the hallway lights dimly illuminated the area….and causing Blake to freeze in fear when he looked up.

 **For Lana and Lola now stood on all fours before him, their ears flattened against their heads as they bared their teeth and growled at the downed soldier.**

"Going somewhere?", hissed Lola, patches of frost emanating from beneath her paws.

"Yeah, where's the rush?", concurred Lana with a snarl.

Before he could even think to respond, Blake was then kicked onto his back and greeted by the sharp tip of a short sword merely an inch from his neck, Lincoln glaring down on him as the white-haired boy was flanked by the rest of his sisters.

"So, what do we do with this one?", Luna asked with a glare of her own.

"We can always send him along with his friends.", suggested Lynn as she showed her flame-engulfed right hand, terrifying Blake.

"Or we don't.", Leni firmly stated as she snuffed Lynn's fiery hand with her own watery one, causing the brunette to yelp and glare at her sister as she shook her stinging hand. "Like, I know we did all this to defend ourselves, but I think we've done enough. It's bad enough that had to…..had to-"

"Kill them?", said Lucy, the bluntness causing the altered fashionista to flinch slightly. "I understand your plea for mercy, Leni. But as long as we're down here, Tetherby will certainly not offer us that same courtesy. Do you want to go back into your cage?"

"...No.", the now seventeen year old muttered, looking down at the floor in sad resignation. Feeling a scaly hand rest on her shoulder, Leni looked up to see Lori giving her a sympathetic gaze.

"If there any other way to get through without bloodshed, we would've definitely taken it.", the eldest sister spoke in reassurance. "But it's as Lucy just said: It's us or them, Leni. We do what we must."

"Amen to that, sister.", Luan concurred. "It doesn't need to be said, but I think there's gonna be a lot more _bad blood_ on the pavement when all of this is said and done…..Heh."

"Too soon, my comedic sibling unit.", criticised Lisa as she hovered near her sister. "Back on topic, I do agree with Leni. What we have done is more than sufficient and there's no need to continue such methods. Instead, I propose a more effective tactic that would be beneficial our short term goal of escaping this dreadful establishment."

"Really? What may that be?", queried Lincoln, taking his eyes off of Blake to focus on the prodigy's words, the rest of his sisters doing the same.

"Sending a physical representation of our intentions to undermine Tetherby's confidence and sown discontent among his ranks."

"..."

Blank stares and silence were what Lisa received, to which she sighed.

"We send a message to Tetherby and his forces in order to scare them."

"Oooooh!", the siblings responded upon finally realizing what the now five year old genius was saying.

"How do we do that?", the twins said in unison, tilting their heads in a cute manner.

"It's quite simple, really.", Lisa answered before turning her gaze to the subsided soldier. "Observe our hostage here. Note his helmet. Notice anything in particular?"

All eyes turned to Blake, who flinched under the children's glowing and scrutinizing glares. It was Lincoln who noticed something on the grunt's helmet. A tennis ball sized device with a contracting lense and a small blinking red light.

"Is...is that a camera?"

* * *

 _Main Control Room, 5th Floor, T.W.D.D, 6:00 P.M._

" _...And so, I'll end it on this, villain: There be no mountain high enough, no valley low enough, no sky big enough and no ocean far enough where we won't find thee! Every day, down to the last second, that ye hath spent tormenting us! Changing us! Laughing at our suffering! For each and every such instance, ye will pay for in pain! And for those who art foolish enough to follow you….will be given the same courtesy as well! Count thy days now, Tetherby, for they art numbered! Ye and this wretched hellhole that thou so preciously hold and cherish will fall before reckoning that is now upon thee! The bell tolls, Lord Tetherby….and it tolls for thee!_ ,Lincoln decreed in the video recording that Private Blake, traumatized but alive, brought back with him before stomping on the camera, destroying it.

A blanket of unease fell upon the room, everyone, whether they were a soldier, scientist, guard or just mere civilian employee, looked away from the giant monitor where the recording played and toward each other with worried glances before they all turned to the back of the room, where their boss stood, hands on the railing and his head lowered.

By all means, the Louds tactic worked…..on all but a few. Tetherby was one of the few.

Was he scared? A little, but a more powerful emotion put the feeling of fear on the backburner.

For he wasn't angry. He wasn't mad. He wasn't even furious.

No…..He. Was. **LIVID.**

How could this happen? How _did_ this happen? Who's responsible? These questions and more raced inside his brain, all of which he didn't have an answer for at the present time. The fact that all of this occured on **his birthday** , no less, did not help at all. Right now, though, none of it mattered right now. The businessman now had top secret living weapons on the loose and he was gonna make sure those brats don't even get a chance on see a speck of daylight. And if they do, well…..they won't live long enough to appreciate it.

As Tetherby went on raving and ordering his commanders, Dr. Singed stood off to the side, his narrowed eyes still on the monitor as he was deep in contemplation.

' _Hmmm...Perhaps the time has come for sever my ties with Mr. Tetherby. If this plays out how I think it will, then the coming spectacle is one best seen from afar.'_

* * *

 **Author's Notes: And done! The Louds' journey for freedom has begun, but Tetherby won't make easy! What dangers and challenges await the the siblings? Stay tuned for more!**

 **As always, be sure to leave a review!**

 **Catch ya later!**


	15. Not So Simple

**The Loud Awakening**

 **Chapter 14: Not So Simple**

 **Me: You know, it feels like only yesterday that I started on this fic. I've come far and we're not even halfway through.**

 **Inner Me: 102 reviews and 101 followers as of right now. Not bad at all for a one year old fanfic.**

 **Me: To the readers who have stuck with this story for a year, I thank you for your time and hope that I can continue to entertain you with my storytelling.**

 **TheFreezerStreets: Do you want this story done fast or done right? Pick one!**

 **That Engineer: That's a Reaper quote from** _ **Overwatch**_ **(I think) and a Davy Jones reference from** _ **Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest**_ **.**

 **The Keeper of Worlds: Good observation. It will happen later, but when it does…..** _ **YOU WILL LOVE IT.**_

 **Red Rain: Oh, trust me. The effects and repercussions of what happened to TEN of the eleven Loud children, as well as disappearing and being gone for a year WILL be shown, but that won't happen until we're closing in on the ending of this story. So just keep reading for now.**

 **Bouken Dutch 2.0: Hey, not all Loudcest stories are cringey garbage. Have you seen any of AberrantScript's works? When he isn't in a soul-crushing mood? Also, you do know I pulled a time skip, right? It's now a year later for the Louds.**

 **Araitsume:...You lie...*Actually goes to Tv Tropes and finds this story in the Alt. Universe folder* AND IT HAS A TROPES PAGE, TOO!?**

 **Recommended Battle Music:** _ **Kipling Plant - Blast Corps**_

* * *

" _Imagine me and you, I do_

 _I think about you day and night, it's only right_

 _To think about the girl you love and hold her tight_

 _So happy together."_

Lyrics to _The Turtles_ classic hit played overhead for the Loud kids as they stood inside the ascending elevator. Well, more like crammed. For the average human being, an elevator can hold up to fifteen people. Unfortunately, these same elevators were not designed for what a few of the Louds are now. Extensive heights, large wings and extra appendages("Get your foot off of my tail!", "Get your tail off of my foot!"), it was gonna be a tight squeeze before they even got on. So, as was the case, everyone was uncomfortable, Leni and Lori in particular.

And it **definitely** did not help that the elevator had misread the room and started playing a song that was very much uncalled for and was getting on the kids' nerves.

" _If I should call you up, invest a dime_

 _And you say you belong to me and ease my mind_

 _Imagine how the world could be, so very fine_

 _So happy together._

 _I can't see me lovin' nobody but you_

 _For all my li-"_

 **CRACK!**

The sound of something being smashed alerted most of the children and they turned their sights toward the disturbance, only to see Lori with her scaly fist in the ceiling, utterly pulverizing the speaker system.

"Thanks Lori.", they said in relieved unison, causing the eldest Loud child to chuckle as she retracted her fist from the now destroyed speaker.

"Ahem...Now that the source of auditory irritation has been removed, I feel now is the appropriate time to discuss something that is the matter of utmost importance.", Lisa announced, getting everyone's attention.

"And that would be...?", asked Lori.

"What is our prime directive once we've reached the top floor? I assume we have plan in mind."

"Pfffft. What's there to plan?", scoffed Lynn. "We go up, blast anyone who's stupid enough to go against us, find Tetherby and make his fatass regret even breathing."

"You're making this sound like it's a walk in the park, dudette.", Luna commented.

"Considering what we're capable of now, why shouldn't it be?"

"Tis' Tetherby, sister", Lincoln answered Lynn. "He mayhap be a bastard, but he be shrewd in his machinations as well. I fear that the coming undertaking shalt be naught but perilous and difficult."

"Linc's got a point there.", inputted Luan. "There's a _fat_ chance that fatty won't have something in store for us."

"Given the significant amount of time we've spent imprisoned in this hopeless hole, that is certainly most likely.", Lucy concurred.

Yeah, but…", Lola countered, examining her ice powers extending the length of her claws. "Maybe he didn't take into account of us actually getting out of our cells. Maybe he only knows how to deal with us when we're under his thumb."

"But you forgetting about that crazy doctor Tetherby has in his corner.", Lana argued. "If that walking tub of lard didn't take what's happening now into account, then I will bet my most prized monkey wrench that Singed did….and probably already told Tetherby."

"Well...we made this far.", Leni chimed in. "Like, we've got to at least try, right?"

"It's more of a 'do or die' than a 'try', but you're right Leni.", replied Lori with a smirk. "As for what we'll do when we reached the top? Seeing as how plans usually get thrown out the window as soon as a fight breaks out, I say we'll just have to improvise. Agreed?"

"Improv, you say? I can definitely do that!", quipped Luan

"Not **that** kind of improv, Luan.", spoke Lincoln with a smile, the rest of girls snickering and giggling as a sense of much needed levity blanketed the cramp space.

 _ **Sad, how their mirth would be sorely short-lived.**_

According to the display screen located above the elevator doors, they had just passed the 23rd floor when the elevator suddenly stopped, the abrupt halt of momentum causing the Loud siblings to stumble.

"Wow! Like, this elevator is totes quick if we've reached the top already!", Leni commented.

"We didn't.", the rest of her siblings responded before something large clanged loudly on top of the elevator, forcibly causing it to descend a floor or two before stopping again. The sudden shift in direction caused the Louds to float temporarily before landing on top of each other in a heap.

"What the hell was tha-", Lynn began as she disentangled herself of the pile, but was cut off by Lincoln's hand on her mouth. The boy laid a finger on his lips, signaling her to be silent as heavy metallic footsteps were heard from above. Then, the footsteps stopped. For a few tense seconds, the children stayed quiet, each one alert and on guard for any possible threat. Upon nothing immediately happening, Lynn then looked to Lincoln and gestured her head toward the elevator hatch located at the front corner of the ceiling. He looked at the hatch, then back at Lynn, then back at the hatch before narrowing his eyes and nodding to his older sister. The two siblings shuffled toward the corner, which didn't escape the notice of their sisters.

"What are you two doing?", whispered Lori.

"What does it look like we're doing? Linc's giving me a lift so I can see what's out there.", Lynn replied, her volume low as Lincoln pushed himself into the corner and locked his fingers together to provide his sister a boost.

"I strongly advise against this action, Lynn. We have no clue as to what may be out there.", inputted Lisa.

"All the more reason to get out and look. You rather wait until whatever's out there, say, cuts the wires and drops this elevator we're in?"

Against that statement in these certain circumstances, the others couldn't find a suitable counter to Lynn's logic.

"She does have a point, dudes.", spoke Luna in agreement….before realizing what she just said. "Whoa, it's not everyday you hear that sentence."

"True that, but she is right. Better to meet them than for them to get the _drop_ on us….Heh.", chirped Luan as her siblings, once again, groaned at her bad wordplay.

"Still, like, be careful. If anything goes bad, we're right behind you.", Leni said in worried support.

Lynn gave nod in acknowledgement before she climbed up Lincoln, using his hands as a step ladder to stand on his shoulders and reach the hatch. The others moved in closer, ready to assist Lynn in case anything goes wrong. With a push, the burnette opened the hatch and peered out into the dimly lit elevator shaft.

Only to find….nothing. She looked to the left….then the right. Still, nothing.

"See anything up there, sister?", grunted Lincoln as he held Lynn's feet to his shoulders.

"No...which is weird. I know we heard _something_ up here.", responded Lynn before the feeling of being watched pinged in the back of her mind. She threw the hatch completely open and looked up…

 **...and greeted by a single large glowing red eye.**

"HOLY SHI-", exclaimed Lynn in alarm before a giant four fingered robotic hand surged downward, grabbing her entire head by the face as well as destroying the hatch and a portion of the elevator in the process. As such, the siblings yelped in shock as the elevator shuddered before realizing what was happening to their sporty sister.

"LYNN!", they yelled in distress, but before any of them could rush in to help, Lynn was pulled out of the damaged hole. Lincoln, who still held on to his sister's ankles, was fished out as well. In just one second, the boy was now dangling over a deep and dark elevator shaft, illuminated thanks to Lynn's flaming tail that swung wildly as she was being held. Her flame also gave Lincoln a better view as to what they now faced. A large, 9 foot mecha with bulky armored arms and legs with two pronged feet stood before them, standing on the damaged elevator as its raised armored arm held Lynn by her head.

" **TARGET ACQUIRED!"** , loudly announced the robot. **"COMMENCING INCAPACITATION!"**

Blue lines began to appear along the robot's arm, leading all the way up to its hand. Then, with horrific clarity, Lincoln witnessed and heard Lynn's shrieks of pain as her head was cruelly shocked with volts of visibly blue electricity.

"NO! LET HER GO!", roared an enraged Lincoln as he quickly released his grip on one of his sister's ankles and willed a dagger into being before throwing it. The flying weapon found its mark in the automaton's shoulder, staggering and causing it to cease its electrocution and released Lynn. Which was a good thing….and a bad thing.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!",Lincoln and Lynn screamed in terror as they fell a couple floors before one of Lynn's outstretched hands caught one of the girders that lined and bordered the shaft.

"Linc! Are you….*grunt*...are you alright!?", shouted the fourteen year old as she held on.

"I am well, sister! And it would behoove thee not to let go!", replied a spooked Lincoln, both of his hands now clutching Lynn's ankle as he held on for dear life.

"Yeah, no shit, Sir Sherlock!"

Meanwhile, the armored mech pulled the dagger out of its body, to which it disappeared in a flash of light, before walking over to the edge of the elevator and peering down to see its targets had fallen seven floors below.

" **DAMAGE MINIMAL. JUGGERBOT, INITIATING PURS-"**

The battle bot was interrupted by a blast of cold that caused it to stumble a step. The mech turned its gaze toward the direction of the blast and saw Lola and Lana, out of the elevator and growling fiercely on all fours.

"You're going down, scrap heap!", shouted Lola as frost began appearing on the tips of her tails and ends of her fur and hair.

"Walking piece of junkyard crap!", Lana taunted, the nearby walls rumbling slightly.

" **REASSESSING…"** , the Juggerbot spoke as it turned toward its new opponents. **"TARGETS IDENTIFIED. ENGAGING."**

The robot then raised its right hand, which charged up a ball of blue energy and fired. The twins quickly separated and dodged the shot which hit the elevator instead, damaging it even further and causing it to fall two floors before coming to a shuddering halt. Distressed sheriks once again could be heard from inside the elevator. Lana responded by charging forward. The Juggerbot leaned in to make a grab for her, but was thwarted by another cold blast from Lola, who had jumped up to a nearby girder. Thanks to the aid from her twin, Lana jumped and landed on top of the mech. She then raised her arms to her sides, her eyes glowing bronze as rocks were ripped from the walls of the elevator shaft and gathered on her hands and arms, forming large stony fists. She then proceeded to wail on the automaton, the sound of stone pounding steel resonating throughout the entire shaft. The wolfish girl managed to put dents in its head, but it wasn't enough as, before she could deliver another hefty strike, the robot grabbed her fist mid-swing and slammed her back down onto the elevator. Wind knocked out of her and dazed, Lana was in no position to defend herself as the Juggerbot charged up another energy shot, but before it could fire, Lola came screaming in and leapt onto its back, icy claws slashing into it as she hissed and snarled in defense of her twin sister.

As this was happening, Lucy and Lisa managed to escape out of the hole, with prodigy actually flying out of it and the goth as cloud of black mist. Upon seeing what was happening, Lisa quickly took action.

"Lucy, help Lana and see if you can find where Lynn and Lincoln went! I'll assist Lola!", she spoke in rush before her arms and legs became encased in futuristic armor and her head became covered in a helmet, complete with green visor and a mask. The five year old then dove forward, ramming her shoulder into the mech's chest with enough force to carry it off the elevator. Lola jumped off in time as Lisa slammed the Juggerbot into the wall on the other side of the elevator shaft, kicking up dust in the process. Hovering a few feet away, Lisa's arms transformed into blaster cannons as aimed into the dust cloud, Lola perched beside her on a girder, ready for more.

Several floors below, Lynn had managed to pull herself up onto the girder and helped Lincoln up as well. Just as the two were now fully standing…

"You two alright?"

The duo gave yelp of fright and Lynn, acting on pure instinct, spun around swinging a fiery backfist behind her, to which Lucy swiftly ducked under, causing the attack to collide with the wall and leave a noticeable crack. The nine year old straightened up and fixed Lynn a very deadpanned look that screamed 'Seriously?'.

"Lucy, god damn it! You have got to stop doing that! I almost knocked your head clean off!", Lynn complained, clawed hand on her heart as she took deep breaths to calm herself down.

"If you did, you'd freak out over what would happen next.", Lucy replied, rather cryptically.

"Huh? What you mean?", queried the fourteen year old facing her younger sister as she raised an eyebrow, puzzled. Lucy was about to answer, but saw Lincoln, standing behind Lynn, holding his arms in a X formation, rapidly shaking his head in the negative while mouthing 'Not yet!' with a pleading look on his face.

"I'm….just….being enigmatic...again.", the goth haphazardly spoke.

"In that case, hell of a time to be creepy, sis.", commented Lynn while Lincoln swiped his forehead in relief, dodging the bullet of extreme concern for the time being.

"Hey, you two good?"

The three looked up to see Lana perching on one the intersecting girders, a floor above them.

"Cause if you are, then we should get back up there and take care of-"

 **BOOM! SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!**

The ear-splitting noise of metal scraping metal pierced the air, causing the four siblings to look up just in time to the elevator, once again, go into free fall. Upon reaching the floor Lynn and Lincoln had fallen to, it grinded to a halt again. The scene that greeted them was chaotic. The elevator itself was so mangled and damaged, it was a miracle that it still retain a semblance of a square shape, let alone still hold itself up. Some parts of it were even on fire, brightening the elevator shaft with reddish-orange glow. The Juggerbot that stood on top of the burning box looked no better. Deep dents were seen all throughout its body. The left arm was torn off while the bulky armor that covered its right arm and left leg were completely gone, its thin metallic skeletal frame fully exposed. The automaton's head was also without armor, revealing a tangled web of wires and circuits that surround its red glowing eye.

Lincoln, Lynn, Lucy and Lana were about to attack when, one by one, the rest of the sisters joined them. Well….almost the rest of them. Leni, Luna and Lola were perched on the girders on the same floor as Lana while Lisa and Luan hovered in mid-air, one via thrusters and the other via air currents. However, there was an absence...

"Wait...Where's Lori!?", Lincoln asked in urgency, taking note of their missing eldest sibling.

"She's still in the elevator!", responded Leni in equal distress.

"What!?", exclaimed Lynn. "Why!? The thing looks like it could go at any second!"

"The hole we climbed out of is too small for Lori to squeeze through! Her wings get in the way, so she's stuck, dudes!", Luna quickly explained while throwing an electric bolt at the mech, stunning it.

"Well, how are we gonna get-"

 **BOOM!**

Lynn's interrupted question got its answer… **in the form of Lori bursting through the roof of the elevator.**

"Stupid goddamn hole!", the young woman complained as she made her way out and would've added more to the compliant if she wasn't busy dodging an backhanded arm swipe from the Juggerbot. The mech swung its arm again, only this Lori actually caught the arm mid-swing and pulled. A second of metal tearing later, the robot's arm was ripped off, to which Lori then used it like a improvised club and bashed the mech with a horizontal swipe, causing it to fall on its back. Having no way to pick itself back up, the Juggerbot could only look up and watch as the eldest Loud child jumped high into air and swung the robot arm down on the mech's head, crushing it completely and causing the automaton to shut down permanently. As if sensing the fight's conclusion, the damaged elevator finally gave up its valiant fight. Lori flapped her wings and jumped to a girder just in time. The Loud children watched as the burning box, along with the defeated battle bot, fell down the shaft without stopping. A few seconds, a thunderous crash rang throughout the shaft as the elevator met the bottom. The Loud kids, hearts racing from the experience, gazed at the dim orange glow of the fire that burned at the bottom of the shaft before looking toward each other.

"So….anyone else want to stay here for another second longer?", asked Lori in a somewhat jesting tone, to which she received a resounding "No!" from her younger siblings. "My thoughts exactly."

* * *

Purple lines of electricity could be seen traveling along the frame and outline the elevators doors before they dinged and opened, allowing the ten young Louds to exit the elevator shaft and enter the floor before Luna, with an electrical touch, closed the doors again.

"So, like, where are we now?", Leni questioned as the siblings looked around at their new surroundings.

"A place that may hold answers that we might not like.", replied Lucy in monotone as she pointed at a sign that was etched on the wall in front of them that read:

 _Biological and Research_

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Alas, the kids take a detour. Tune in next chapter to see the Louds learn of Singed's year-long research about them…..as well as the twisted machinations that is Tetherby's mind.**

 **Like always, be sure to leave a review!**

 **Catch ya later!**


	16. Plans Most Sinister

**The Loud Awakening**

 **Chapter 15: Plans Most Sinister**

 **Me: This fic train stops for nobody!**

 **Inner Me: Except Smash Ultimate?**

 **Me:...Except Smash Ultimate.**

 **The Keeper of Worlds: Soon, my friend.** _ **Soon…**_

 **He23t: There are…..but those are different stories.**

 **That Engineer: That 'next time' won't be for a bit, so go make some more popcorn and get comfy.**

 **DreadedCandiru2: Of course this wasn't gonna be easy for them! If it was, we would be at the ending at this point! As for what the kids find, well...you'll see in a second.**

 **Momijifan Low-Ki: Knight Lincoln & The Monster Loud Sisters…..That sounds like a title for a future tie-in series…...Interesting…**

 **Soiche: Dude, I'd be over the damn moon if there was fan art of this fic! Fun fact: I've been imagining this story playing out in patanu102's artstyle…..and it's glorious!**

* * *

"You know, the longer you take, the less likely we are on getting out of here scott free."

"Oh, like the past four times you told me that is supposed to make me go faster? Besides, relax. I'm almost done."

The sound of urgent banter and fingers typing away on a keyboard filled the secluded room of the main office of Biological and Research, located at the 30th floor of the T.W.D.D. Soon after releasing the Louds, Faye and Zed quickly made their way to this particular floor to accomplish one final task before finally escaping: exposing Tetherby's atrocities and cruelties for the world to see. Well, Faye wanted to, anyway. Zed just wanted to get both of them as far away from here as possible when the fighting started…..and he said as much.

"That's what you said five minutes ago!", he complained, his head turned toward the door every now and then as if he were expecting guards to come barging in and capture them at any second. "Plus, you didn't hear that loud crash earlier? It sounded like one of the elevators just free fell to the bottom of the building. If that's not a sign of 'hurry the hell up', I don't know what is!"

"I'm pretty sure everyone and their mother heard that crash. More importantly, they'll be too busy trying to stop those kids to find and catch us. So, like I told you for the past couple of minutes, don't worry about it. In fact, I'm about to wrap things up right about…..now!"

With a final tap of a key, Faye watches as the screen shows a pop-up window, informing her that a download was 100% completed. With a victorious smirk, she then pulled a USB drive out from one of the computer's data ports, stood up and showed her boyfriend the drive.

"Here it is. Every bit of data, document, file and note regarding the Evo Program and other projects Tetherby has ever conducted. Now we can leave.", said the redhead.

"Don't have to tell me twice.", Zed responded before taking her hand and leading them out of the office. Taking a moment to check if the coast is clear, the duo exited and briskly strode down the corridor. "So, how exactly are we gonna get out of here, Faye?"

"Well, since the main elevators are out of the question, we either use the emergency elevator or take the stairs. And since Tetherby's watching all of the elevators…"

"The stairs it is, then. Well, let the record show that I got in my exercise for the day.", the man joked before another thought came to him. "Apropos, if by some miracle we make it out of here, what are you gonna do with that drive?

"You know, my first thought was the most obvious: give it to a news organization. But after having some second thoughts, I figured we could-", Faye began, but as walked through an intersection and past a corner, she noticed several figures show up behind Zed in her peripheral vision. Upon shifting her vision and actually seeing what those figures were, she stopped, in mind and body. Her heart began quickening in pace as her eyes widened and her pupils shrank in rapidly growing terror. Seeing his lover's abrupt halt and fear-stricken face, Zed turned around and…

* * *

"HOLY SHI-", the brown-haired male scientist began, but Lori promptly cut him off by grabbing him by the face, lifting him up and slammed him against the wall.

"NO, WAIT!", shrieked the red-headed female scientist before she was pounced on by Lynn, tackling her to the floor before straddling the woman's chest and grabbing her neck, almost choking the redhead. As the couple struggled to comprehend over what just happened, the two Loud sisters were soon joined by the rest of their siblings, who were silently waiting nearby.

"I'm going to ask you this one time and you better give me a straight answer: How the hell do we get out of here?", the eldest Loud ordered in low and threatening growl. After asking said question, Lori then slightly adjusted her grip, now holding him by the underside of his chin, thus allowing him to speak.

To which he did…

"W-What the fuck!? Any harder and you would've broken my spine!"

... _so eloquently._

"A little more and I might have. Now answer my question!", the eldest Loud reiterated, tightening her hold ever so slightly. For the poor man, it was it felt like a vice slowing crushing his jaw, causing him to yell in pain and futilely struggle against her. Lori was about to put a hard stop to it when she felt a hand touch her side. She looked down and saw Lucy looking up at her.

"Perhaps you'll find the answers we seek from one who is more willing.", the 9 year old goth spoke while pointing toward the female scientist Lynn had pinned to the floor. The Louds turned their gaze toward the woman, who stopped struggling and had her trembling hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"P-Please…..Don't….h-hurt us…..Please…..", she begged, barely wheezing out her plea as Lynn still had her clawed hand tightly around her throat. Raising an eyebrow, the fourteen year old looked to her eldest sister, who narrowed her eyes at the women in suspicion before giving Lynn a nod to release her. Upon being freed, the redhead coughed and sputtered, filling her lungs with much needed oxygen as she unsteadily got back on her feet. Calming herself somewhat, the woman then turned to Lori, who still held the poor man by his neck.

"P-Please. Let him go.", she spoke, her voice brimming high trepidation. "He may seem rough, but I assure you, he does not wish to cause you harm. Neither of us do."

"Oh, I doubt that…", Lori responded, but upon seeing the woman's sincere expression and non-threatening body language, she complied and released the male scientist, who fell to the floor gasping for air as he scrambled to the redhead's side. Seeing the situation slightly cooled off, Lincoln stepped forward to the pair.

"Who art thou and what business dost thou have of being in such deserted corridors?", he queried.

"Yeah, it's kinda peculiar that you dudes would be the only ones around here, so what's the deal?", added Luna, arms crossed.

"Yeah and no lies!", exclaimed Lola with a glare.

The couple looked at each other, the man shaking his head with resigned expression while woman sighed before turning her attention back toward the siblings.

"My name ...is Faye.", the woman introduced herself before gesturing toward the man. "And he's Zed, my partner."

"I'd say I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, but we all know I'd be lying.", he stated, honestly before Faye continued.

"As for us being here, we were performing ...a kind of sabotage."

The Loud siblings blinked in surprise. They weren't expecting to hear that.

"Sabotage? Correct me if I'm wrong but, due to your laboratory uniforms, aren't the pair of you currently under the employment of Tetherby?", asked Lisa, curious.

"We were…..until recently, that is.", Zed responded.

"So, like, what changed?", said Leni, puzzled.

"To answer that, let ask you this…", the redheaded woman began. "Isn't strange how you're able to be standing there, _freely_? How you're able to wander this very hall, find us and talk to us on your own _free_ will? Every single person here knows what each of you are capable of. The power you wield. The actions you can perform. Anyone with a shred of rational mind would be screaming to have locked in a cage and under heavy security. And yet, here you are now. Why is that?"

The siblings toward each other as they digested Faye's words. At the time, upon reuniting and dealing with the capture team, the children didn't really put that much thought into the circumstances of them suddenly gaining freedom from their lab cells. But now, if they really think about…

"You know, that is a good question.", uttered Lucy. "It was nothing short of a miracle that we were reunited. How was it that even came to be, I wonder?"

"Your guess is as good as ours, sis.", Luan replied with a shrug before turning contemplative. "But she does have a point. Don't get me wrong, I'm high as a kite that we're back together and not in our cells, but I get it: From an outsider's perspective, if they saw what we are and what we can do, they wouldn't let us out period. I mean, unless someone was made aware of the situation and, God forbid, seen how janked up all of this is and...actually…..set…..us….."

The feathered fifteen year old trailed off, her eyes widening as her mind put two and two together. The rest of the siblings wore visages of realization as they connected the dots as well. The Louds snapped their heads back toward the couple, who looked nervous as they held each other's hand.

"Yes…", spoke Faye in a hushed tone, answering the unspoken question all the children had in their minds.

" **...We were the ones who set you free.** "

….

Silence….

For a solid ten seconds, not a word was spoken as the confessed actions of Faye and Zed rang in each of the kids' minds. The silence was so long and evident that the couple looked at each other in apprehension and discomfort, feeling as though the wrong thing had just been said. Just when it seemed like the silence was going to make Zed crack, the kids finally reacted…

"Bullshit."

….rather negatively, as Lynn gave her very blunt retort, the flame on her tail rising in tune with her growing irritation.

"I agree. I don't believe a lick of what you just said.", concurred Lori, sending the two humans an intimidating glare.

"W-What!? But we're telling the truth!", argued Faye, pleading as Zed protectively put an arm out so she was behind him.

"As if! You felt sorry for us, so you decided to free us? Nuh-uh, that ain't flyin' by us, dude!", countered Luna, electric sparks dancing along her skin and fur.

"Even if it were true, why now?", questioned Leni with gritted teeth in both anger and sadness to this confession. "Why not back then when it would've been so much better? The pain, the suffering, the misery! All that time, no one batted an eye for us! So why now, as if you cared all of a sudden!?"

"Because back then, Faye and I didn't even know you existed!", replied Zed, in defense. "The two of us haven't been here for that long! It was only a few months ago that we were even made aware of you, let alone all the fucked up shit going on down here! If is was possible, we would've done this sooner!"

"You know, that almost sounds like a plausible story…..or should I say excuse?", criticized Luan. " _Feather_ you like it or not, due to what we've been through, we just can't take your word on it."

Par for the course, groans ensued.

"Plus, you two might have an ulterior motive.", inputted Lucy. "For all we know, you sprung us out just so you could use us for your own gain of some kind."

"Not that we would've let you.", added Lisa, rather threateningly as her eyes began glowing green.

"But it's the truth!", Zed and Faye both yelled in unison.

"We said no lies!", snapped Lola with frost appearing on the tips of her hair and fur.

"Actually, I think they're telling the truth…"

Most of the girls' attention went to Lincoln, who stared at the couple in a thinking gesture.

"Me too. And they're not lying."

Eyes then shifted to Lana upon hearing that statement.

"And how would you know that?", questioned the two-tailed twin.

"I sensed it through the floor."

Cue raised eyebrows from the most of the girls…

"You...sensed it ...through ...the floor?"

"Yeah, I did. I know, it sounds unbelievable and I can't quite explain it, but I would've sensed it through the ground if they were lying…..and they weren't."

"Because the floor told you? Riiiiight…", Lola replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes before turning to her older brother. "And what makes **you** think they aren't lying? Besides, even if they were telling the truth, they wouldn't have told us."

"So ye think they assumed they knew we would not believe them, even if they told the actual truth?", countered Lincoln.

"Yes…..I mean, no…..I-I don't know, okay !? I just don't trust them!"

"I understand thy caution, sister. However, thinkth on this: What art they gaining from lying, especially to us?"

The girls pondered for a moment on their brother's question.

"Nothing ...Like, I don't think they gain anything.", answered Leni.

"Well, when you say it like that, they have no reason to, aside from pissing us off.", Lynn concurred, with the others all coming to similar decisions.

"Still…", spoke Lori in objection as continued to suspiciously glare at the two scientists. "I still don't quite believe or trust you. How can we even take your word for what it is?"

Faye took a deep breath before leaning over to Zed, her mouth inches from his ear.

"I think we should give…. _it_ to them.", she began in a whisper.

"Wait, really?", the brown-haired man questioned in a hushed voice. "After the risks we took just to get all of it? What if what they read gets them more upset than they already are?"

"Do we have any choice? It's the only thing I can think that will prove that we're being honest with them. Besides, all things considering, they're completely right to be upset. More than upset, really. Plus….I'm certain that they have questions. As to _what_ they are now. They deserve to know."

Hearing those words and having no means to offer a counterpoint to her logic, Zed gave a resigned sigh and nodded to his lover. Gazing back toward the altered Louds, Faye, careful not to make sudden gestures to agitate them, slowly reached into her coat pocket. The siblings noticed and were immediately put on guard, a few of the sisters giving off a subtle growl. Hesitating for only a moment, Faye grabbed the object within and, with just a much careful slowness, pulled her hand out and revealing…

"A...USB drive?", said Lincoln in slight confusion, a feeling shared by his sisters as they stared at the device in the woman's hand.

"Yes….and we want you to have it.", Faye declared before tossing the drive over to the Louds, to which Lynn caught it with natural ease. "If you can't take our word for it, then this may convince you otherwise."

"And why is that? What could possibly be contained in this drive?", Lucy questioned in monotone.

"Plans, projects, files and documents of every filthy secret and experiment that had ever been conducted in .D.", announced Zed. "At first, we were going to use it to expose the ugly truth of this place and shut it down. But then we ran into you kids and ...well, we think you might get better mileage out of it than we can. Also, it may hold answers to some burning questions that we're sure you're begging to ask."

While the siblings didn't show it, the man's words struck a chord on an deeply-seeded concern in their minds. At the time, each of them really couldn't put a thought into the issue, what with dealing with being subjugated to a cruel fate **and** getting a grasp on their newfound forms/powers. But now? They have questions….. **Important** questions.

Why them?

What purpose did having these powers serve?

What was their _meaning_?

Could they be rid of them or was this ...permanent?

These and more haunted the children's young minds for more than a year…

...and they may have just received the key to finally getting some answers.

For a few seconds, the Louds were silent, deeply staring with wide eyes at the small device in the palm of Lynn's scaled hand as if it was the most priceless family heirloom. Then…

"Lynn…", began Lisa as she raised her own hand in offering. "If I may?"

"Uh...y-yeah, sure.", replied the fourteen year old, hesitating before relinquishing the USB drive to the young prodigy's waiting palm. As Lynn was passing off the device, everyone except Lisa became surprised when a small circular hatch opened up in the middle of the five year old's palm. A two pronged wire then snaked out of the opening and grabbed the drive from out of Lynn's fingers. With the device in tow, the wire slipped back into the hole in Lisa's hand, hatch closing as it did. Lisa's eyes then began to glow bright green as her cybernetically-enhanced mind downloaded and scanned all of the information contained within the drive in mere seconds. Next, she brought her hands together in a clap, a green light shining brighter and brighter from within the gap. Then, with a flourish, she spread her arms out and the light exploded outward, causing everyone to shield their eyes from the blinding flash. The next moment they opened their eyes, though…

"Whoooooooa!", exclaimed the twins in awe. The rest of the siblings, along with Zed and Faye, were in similar states as well. Except Lisa, whose expression described her as seeing this spectacle as very mundane. After all, you stand in the middle of numerous verdant-colored floating holographic screens floating around you like orbiting planets enough times, the sight starts to lose it's shock value.

"Lisa…. Is…. all of this…", Lori began, her wandering to the various screens hovering around the children.

"My doing? Affirmative.", Lisa answered as she began touching and sifting through the screens. "Your reactions are quite appropriate, though. I was, very much, in a similar emotional state the first time this had occurred."

"Damn skippy, dude! This is the coolest thing I've witnessed in my life and I've seen Mick Swagger actually walk on top of a mosh pit of fans!", commented Luna as raised her hand toward a passing screen, her fingers remaining unharmed as the hologram phased through her digits. As the Loud kids continue to gaze and examine Lisa's spectacle, Zed and Faye had their own conversation, albeit in a much more somber air.

"That's incredible…", spoke Zed in a quiet tone. "I've ...I've never seen her do that before. It's like she has become the world's most powerful and advanced A.I. computer system. Only in a much more human-looking package."

"Essentially, that's exactly what she is.", Faye replied, her voice also in a hush. "A year in forced captivity and these kids are still showing something new. Sheer amount of potential they show is simply astonishing. And yet...what does Tetherby want to do with them?"

Hearing that question, her lover gave off a humorless scoff.

"He'll turn them into gun, that's what."

"All the more reason why I don't even regret setting them loose."

"Still...you think it was wise to hand them the drive?"

"Without a shadow of a doubt, Zed. They have a right to know what that evil bastard had plotted for them...and they deserve to have answers as well."

As the couple's discussion came to a close, Lisa was still searching through the screens filled with data when she noticed a particular folder, labeled **'Top Secret: End Goal Project Of Evo Program'**. This tipped young prodigy off, seeing as how they were part of said program.

"Now, what do we have here?", she announced, grabbing her siblings' attention as huddled around to see what she had found. Lisa touched the folder and, upon going to the following screen, only found a single file ...with an odd name.

"Operation ...Era _de Mutare_?", Lincoln spoke.

"Is that, like, Spanish?", asked Leni, obviously unable to make heads or tails of the strange title.

"It's actually Latin. It means the era of change.", Lori explained, her sudden answer causing the other to gaze up at her with widened eyes of surprise. "What? Before all of this happened, I took Latin as an elective language class in high school."

"First off, you know English, Spanish **and** Latin? Learning languages must got you high- _tongue_ , big sis. Heheh!", joked Luan, her siblings again groaning and Lori rolling her eyes. "Secondly, if that's what it means, then what's this era that's coming to an end? Unless it means the _winds of change_ that have been blowing in our favor as of late, then yeah, you bet your butts an era of change is coming."

"As much as I want to believe that, I suspect we all know that's not true. And there's only one way we can truly find out…", said Lisa before touching the file. In response, file disappeared and another screen took its place, this time showing a several audio recordings. Before the children could say anything, the first file near the top automatically started playing.

" _ **Journal Entry #64. Date: September 21st, 2017. Subject: Status Update regarding the Evo Program and Progress Report on the program's projects, post six months."**_

The cold, analytical voice of Singed was instantly recognized by the Louds.

" _ **The Evo Program, as of this recording, is progressing well. With each passing day, week and month, we learn more and more about the powers and capabilities of the now altered EVO projects. As we all know, several months prior, ten young subjects took part in the Orb Harmonization process and each have successfully bonded with their respective Orb. The results were extensively broad in reaction. Few, such as D.A.W.N and D.E.U.S-E.X, ranged from subtle to downright no changes appearance-wise. Others, like D.R.A.K.E and B.L.A.Z.E, were blatantly significant physically, with D.U.S.K, albeit rather delayed, being the most extreme."**_

"Dawn? Blaze? What is he talking about?", queried Lola, quite confused.

"I theorize those words to be codenames, no doubt given to us based on our new physiology.", Lisa gave her input.

"Okay...so, I must be D.R.A.K.E, because I obviously look like one.", surmised Lori, pointing to herself before to Lynn. "You're B.L.A.Z.E, for obvious reasons. Lincoln must be D.A.W.N and Lisa's D.E.U.S-E.X. And D.U.S.K must be…"

All eyes then turned to the gothic Loud, who gulped nervously.

"...Me.", Lucy quietly spoke.

"The mad doctor said that your results were extreme.", Lynn chimed in, evidence of worry creeping into her voice. "What does he mean by that?"

From Lynn, Lucy then looked toward her other sisters and saw that they also bore the same expression as they gazed upon her: worried concern. She then looked to her brother who, while also showing worry and concern, held a look of sad understanding...and grim knowledge. The dark nine year old knew that, at this very moment, she had a very crucial choice to make: either tell the others about her ...new _self_ ; Or, they find out about it later.

And, god forbid, they learn about it the way Lincoln did. Nobody should ever be witness to that.

 _Nobody_.

"G ...G-Guys ...There's something important that I...n-need to tell you", Lucy began, her voice barely audible through her growing nervousness. "It's something that, up to this point, only our brother knew about."

The girls turned their concerned gaze toward Lincoln, who continued to look at the young goth with the same sad yet supportive visage. He knows what the raven-haired Loud is going to say and whatever it is...it's gonna shake them to their core.

"Lucy ...what is it?", Lori hesitantly asked, an icy cold pit of foreboding forming in the bottom of her gut.

The nine year old gulped.

"I'm ...I'm actually de-"

" **Well now, what's all of this, then?"**

A loud, booming voice caused everyone to flinch in shock, Lisa's sphere of holographic screens quickly disappearing in response to her emotional state. Suddenly, a large light blue hologram appeared in front of both the Louds and the liberating couple, showing none other than…

"Tetherby…", Lincoln angrily growled through gritted teeth, his sisters sharing his sentiments toward their overseeing tormentor with actual growls and hisses.

" **Last time I checked, I didn't give any of you brats the right to freely stroll through these floors. All of you should be in your cells right now! At least, you still would be, if it wasn't…"** , Tetherby proclaimed before shifting his sight toward Faye and Zed, growing visibly irate. **"...FOR THESE TWO INSOLENT TRAITORS!"**

"Traitors? Compared to you, our actions should us for sainthood.", Zed retorted, outwardly being brave while internally cursing up a storm at officially being caught their former employer.

" **How dare you go and stab me in the back like this! After I brought you on to this project!? This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for your insignificant lives! I was going to change the world and you were going to be a part of that! And this is how you repay me!? How you thank me!?"**

"Thank you!?", snapped back Faye, highly upset. "We should thank you for taking part in ruining these children's lives!? For taking away their innocence and humanity!? For putting them under pain and suffering for the greed and benefit of you!? I'd rather die than be a part of any of this!"

Tetherby stared at the redhead for a few seconds before crying out a belly busting laugh, doubling over as if he just heard the best joke in his life.

"What's so goddamn funny, you vile prick?", seethed Lori, runes glowing as she clenched her fists.

" **Hahaha...Oh, it's..heh...it's nothing, just…..she really should choose her words more wisely."**

 **WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWO! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWO!**

Alarms blared loudly throughout the entire floor as yellow warning lights illuminated the corridors. The loud noise causing some of the siblings to cover their ears, hoping to lessen the auditory bombardment. Then, an automated voice made an announcement.

 **WARNING! WARNING! PRIME LOCK DISENGAGED! ALL HOLDING CELLS UNLOCKED!**

"H-Holding cells!? What does that mean!?", Leni shouted in distress. The others looked as confused as she was, they too had no idea what to make of that announcement. That is, until they heard a loud gasp. The kids snapped their heads back toward the couple, to which they saw Faye, with her hands over her mouth as her eyes showed crystal-clear horror, and Zed, who looked toward the now evilly smug Tetherby with a mixed expression of fear and anger.

"What the fuck did you just do, you maniac!?", the brown-haired man demanded.

" **You know, when I found out that it was you two who released the Louds and downloaded sensitive top secret data and flies, I was just going to fire you and have you arrested. But now? No, I think what's about to happen next is more than a fitting punishment for you. I just hope it's slow and painful for you."**

The holographic image of the portly man then turned his gaze back toward the siblings.

" **I do hope you all enjoyed what little taste of freedom you had, Louds. Because now…"**

Then, as the noisy alarms finally fell silent, came screaming.

 _Inhuman_ screaming...and unholy roars. Echoing all around them throughout the halls.

" **...you're gonna wish you stayed in your little cages."**

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Holy shit! Goddamn, did I make you guys wait for this! Over half a year! I am so sorry! Truly, I am!**

 **So, I guess you guys want some kind of explanation. Of which, there are a few:**

 **The block. Yep, at some point in typing this, I got stuck. For a time, I had no idea how to progress the story. Which then lead to me losing motivation and leaving this fic alone for a few weeks…which turned into months.**

 **Procrastination. I know, this is no excuse, but this is ultimately what I ended up doing next. I'm better than this and you guys deserve better than this.**

 **Life. Just when I finally found a way to make progress, real life came knockin'. Between a family reunion cancellation, the family dog getting hematoma and needing surgery, work, my dad's truck coming apart at the seams and other issues, I was fairly busy.**

 **Inspiration. As I was banging my head against a wall trying to get this chapter out, I get ideas to start making other Loud House fics. However, I refused to type them up because, at the very beginning of this fic, I promised myself that I would not make another fic until this one was done. I made that promise because, during my on this website, I've seen SO many authors write SO many stories. Yet, none of them ever wrote their fics to completion, either being canceled, redone then abandoned or given up for adoption. I REFUSE to be one of those authors. Still, I have some really good LH story ideas that I want to type up. You guys got any advice on what I should do?**

 **But, in the end, I finally delivered. WAAAAY overdue, but delivered. And I can only thank you all for staying with for this long.**

 **As always, be sure to leave a review.**

 **Catch ya later!**


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